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Can you imagine going to photo shoots, meeting celebrities, Drinking Pepsi or Diet Pepsi for free, participating in cool brainstorming sessions, and getting paid for it all? That's a day in the life of Emily Fitzpatrick, assistant account executive at TracyLocke, a promotional-based advertising agency that boasts Pepsi as a client.

At first, Fitzpatrick was an accounting major at the University of Connecticut. "Gradually, the thought of crunching numbers all day got very mind-numbing," she confesses. She wanted to stay Business-focused, though, and a colleg major in advertising seemed exciting, creative, and fun.

During the summer after her junior year, Fitzpatrick did a College internship in New York City for Euro RSCG MVBMS, an advertising firm, working on a prescription drug account. The inside look at advertising helped her gain industry insight and solidified her Career decision and location. "If you want to get into advertising, be prepared to live and work in a fairly big city," she explains.

Gotta start somewhere.
"When I started here right out of college, I was placed in project management, an entry-level department. The hours were very demanding," Fitzpatrick recalls. Although some days were 20 hours long, her experience earned her a promotion to her current position, where she works closely in a team-oriented, creative environment. "We handle all of the back-and-forth between our clients and the internal creative team, print production, art buyers, and third-party vendors," she explains.

Fun field trips, too.
In addition to maintaining client relationships, Fitzpatrick brainstorms, conceptualizes, and implements product promotions, like the Sierra Mist Free Sampling Day held recently in New York City. "It was a blast, aside from having to wake up at 3 a.m.," she says. Fitzpatrick distributed free samples of Sierra Mist Free from 6 a.m. until noon, and then helped out at a thank-you luncheon for all samplers who participated.

How to prevent your career from fizzling, be it in soda advertising or beyond? Take as many electives as you can and try to do a College internship -- "They can bring interest in a completely different career path," Fitzpatrick urges. "And, don't feel pressure to know exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life. Explore the possibilities."



http://www.vickisalemi.com
Vicki Salemi is a frequent contributor to The CollegeBound Network. Learn more about finding a school that's right for you.

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