Marketing internship enables dual major to explore multiple career paths

That wasn’t the case for Emily Clauss, an art studio and media and journalism dual major, who spent this past summer as a marketing intern with Fidelity Bank in Scranton.

“I was drawn to this opportunity, because not only did it set me up to practice professional skills but allowed me to explore multiple potential career paths,” said Clauss, who is also a midfielder on the Huskies women’s soccer team, as well as editor in chief of The Voice student newspaper. “While it was a media and journalism internship, I was able to able to apply and build on skill sets I have from my second major.”

According to Clauss, among her key responsibilities included maintaining the local bank’s Instagram account, assisting with campaign planning and artwork creation, as well as creating company materials. A big benefit coming out of the summer experience for Clauss were the multiple opportunities the internship provided her.

“I got to experience other aspects of a marketing department that only happen so often like commercial productions, as well as branding campaign meetings with the bank’s vendors,” Clauss said. “These bonus experiences — where I was able to travel outside the bank — gave me a complete idea of a corporate marketing department, as well as clarified multiple professional paths.”

And she was well prepared heading into this dynamic internship experience.

“Bloomsburg University’s media and journalism department provided me with a variety of courses that covered all the necessary tools and areas any professional path could ask for,” Clauss said. “I applied more than a handful of materials from classes to the work I completed for the bank. I utilized my .html knowledge from my multimedia class, as well as wrote press releases from what I learned in my personal relations class and so on.”

A key takeaway — among many valuable marketing and design lessons — was one a lasting impression she’ll be able to apply now in the classroom as a senior.

“The biggest lesson I learned was that sometimes you can’t see the flaws in your own work,” Clauss said. “Almost always a second pair of eyes picks up on something the creator may have missed. I’ll definitely apply this lesson into my school work, as well as when I began my professional work.”

She added, “My experience at Fidelity Bank helped me to realize I prefer a job with multiple responsibilities that allows me to draw from all of my skill sets. After graduation I hope to be in a role where I’m applying both my creative strengths and communication skills.”