This past quarter I had the amazing opportunity to intern at RQ Agency which specializes in influencer marketing by building honest relationships between brands and people of influence. I spoke to one of their account coordinators and fellow Her Campus alum, Hannah Anderson about her transition from student life to the marketing world.
Hannah is a Mississipi native, but when college came around, she knew she had to explore someplace new. She moved across the great pond to study at the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland where she earned her B.A. in English and Art History in 2014. Her curiosity and determination in college led her to not only reopen the St. Andrews Her Campus chapter, but also to experience many different internships and jobs which have provided her with invaluable skills and knowledge. Her career journey has now led her to Los Angeles where she works in the fulfillng and fast-paced marketing industry.
Her Campus: How did you get involved in Her Campus?
Hannah Anderson: In 2012 I reopened the Saint Andrews Her Campus chapter. For about 2 years I was the founder and editor-in-chief. In the beginning, I wrote all 7 required weekly articles myself before I recruited a few friends to help out. It then grew so much that I didn’t even know some of the people that were writing for me. My favorite articles were always the Campus Cutie articles which were a weekly interview series with the campus cuties around Saint Andrews. They were either people we knew or people that were doing cool things. Her Campus was fun. It was a lot of work doing it all on my own, but it’s still going strong 7 years later.
HC: What jobs or internships did you do while in college?
HA: I never did any jobs in Scotland, but I babysat occasionally. I didn’t work during the school year, because I worked during the summers. My parents have an architecture firm in Mississippi and for a couple of summers I worked with them as a research assistant. One summer their office manager left, and they hadn’t hired a new one yet, so I was the office manager. It was very stressful, but that experience was really helpful when I went to apply for other jobs. It seemed fun and kind of silly for the summer, but I definitely learned a lot about doing all the administrative stuff. I did a public relations internship one summer with a historic blues hall. Which was also a little bit helpful when I came to this job. I learned how to work an event and check people in. It was a lot of research for that job too. I had a really fun 3 week fashion internship for a local magazine in Jackson, Mississippi one summer which was super fun. When I moved to LA in 2015, I did social media marketing for a talent management company and some of their clients.
And then now I’m at RQ.
HC: How did you get into the marketing industry?
HA: What I did in school was definitely important such as presentations and a lot of writing. I then did social media freelance work for a talent management company and their clients, but eventually I was ready to work full time in an office, so I started applying other places. I met the founder of RQ Agency at a pool in Palm Springs. My aunt and her friend became friends with her that day and we all went out to dinner. We started talking about RQ and I said, “oh that sounds really interesting…” and she said, “we’re looking for people.” So the next week I went in for an interview… and I’m still here 2 years later.
HC: What do you love about your job?
HA: The people are really fun. Working with our team is really great. There’s always something new and interesting. What I didn’t love about the social media job was that it was a lot of the same things everyday, and I get bored pretty easily, so this job is never the same, ever, any day. It’s never the same at RQ.
HC: What’s one piece of advice you would give to students who want to get into the marketing field?
HA: I think definitely be interested in a lot of things because marketing is so diverse that you’ll be able to find your niche once you get there. Especially in the beginning, be willing to jump in and tackle any project. Be willing to research anything. Especially in influencer marketing, you have to really be into pop culture. You don’t have to follow the Kardashians but you have to know what’s happening in the world.
Once you think you’ve found a place where you want to work, research what they do, and their clients, and even if you don’t work that into your cover letter, maybe go into the meeting and be like “hey so I saw you worked with this client,” and have some piece of news that you saw recently. That would really make you stand out so much. It shows that you care even more than just getting a new job. Even if you don’t get the job, you might get a second interview and you’ll get to practice your interview skills.
HC: What are your future career plans?
HA: I really like marketing, I was surprised because I kind of went into it not knowing, and I wasn’t loving the social media side. I liked being more on the strategy side, coming up with the fun ideas and executing them, and even client services. Client services can be crazy sometimes but it is pretty rewarding when your client asks you for something that seems a little bit impossible, but you manage to do it anyway. You feel very accomplished afterwards. Outside of marketing, I’ve written a children’s book that I’m trying to get published, so that’s my side goal.
HC: What’s one piece of advice you would give to your college self?
HA: Wear the crazy clothes, don’t feel guilty taking the vacations, have fun, and do your work, but have fun!