December is commonly known as the month of giving, spreading love and blessings. I received an extra dose of this through the LAGRANT Foundation’s  career development workshops held at Davis Elen Advertising and Weber Shandwick Worldwide.

As a recent college graduate, being able to get my foot in the door of these two prestigious firms served as a very early Christmas gift and provided a glimpse into what my future career will look like. The LAGRANT Foundation serves as a vessel for minority college students and graduates with a love for PR, marketing and advertising to get insight into some of the top agencies.

Being able to connect with these agencies is a major accomplishment for students because getting your resume viewed by HR is an extremely difficult task. Our first destination was to the “famed” Davis Elen Advertising in Los Angeles, CA. To my surprise, the office resembled a movie set with life sized Mc Donald’s billboards and a colorful collection of merchandise from their wide array of clients. Everything was cleverly decorated and you could tell their employees are extremely creative and enjoy their jobs.

During the course of the day we were treated with meals and presentations by key account executives who gave us insight on building a company’s brand from the ground up; emphasizing the importance of color, creativity and paying attention to detail. The highlight of the day was our question and answer session with the company’s COO/CFO, Terry Sullivan.

Mr. Sullivan gave us advice on how to advance in a company and gave his personal story on his journey to the top. He advised us to take chances, be loyal and learn how to work with people. He also provided a list of inspirational books to read on our own journey to the top.

On our second trip we visited Weber Shandwick, Axis, and Golin Harris, all of which are under the IPG umbrella. The account executives gave us presentations from their most recent grassroots campaign. I soaked up all the information because they focused on the integration of traditional media and social media, which is what the future of PR is all about. They also focused on how to maximize an internship experience and how to utilize blogs and other social media in campaigns.

Overall, the the LAGRANT Foundation career development workshops reconfirmed my desire to work in this industry. I left with a better understanding and a tenacious drive to become the best PR practitioner. The students who participated in these trips are now equipped with the tools to succeed in their future endeavors and become the new leaders and innovators in this ever growing practice.

If you are a college student (undergraduate and graduate) and you want to learn more about the PR/advertising industry, the LAGRANT Foundation is the perfect way for you to develop your talent.

The LAGRANT Foundation provides over $15,000 in academic scholarships each year.

For more information, please go to: www.lagrantfoundation.org