This week, we were visited by J-School alumna Sara Defibaugh. Sara not only earned her bachelor’s degrees in Journalism-Strategic Communications and Creative Writing through Ohio University, but also her master’s degree in Organizational Communications. Sara is now a Marketing Account Executive at the Toubes Agency after a journey working in many different fields of communications. During her presentation, Sara walked us through her career timeline and her advice for students to prepare for entering the workforce.
Key Takeaways:
- Sara emphasized that the most important thing to do before one enters the workforce is to curate a toolbox of skills. Sara said, “Knowledge is your best weapon when going into the workforce. The more skills you can build now, the more impressive you’re going to look to employers.”
- In a turbulent job market, where the next person to be laid off might be you, Sara said to “always keep contract work in mind.”
- Sara stressed never to undervalue your work, she said, “especially as people coming out of Scripps never forget to put value and stock behind your work.”
- When asked about her master’s degree, Sara said that it can be a very valuable and worthy investment, but only for those who are really interested and who really want it, or else the process may be grueling.
- Sara’s most important advice: Don’t Give Up!
- Sara said, “Stay committed to your personal goals, and find what makes you happy in your day-to-day. Stay curious, invest in your education and continue looking for full-time roles (if that’s your end goal) every few months. In the meantime, diversify your career value. Gain lots of different skills and become good at many competencies.”
You can connect with Sara on LinkedIn here.
Ella Neighborgall is a second-year student studying advertising, communications and PR at Ohio University and can be found on LinkedIn here.