Smith Marketing Alumni Panel

Today, AMA hosted a panel of Smith’s Marketing Alumni including marketing and management dual majors Anne Curie and Maryum Nassar. Curie currently serves as a marketing coordinator at HBW Construction, while Nassar is a sales and marketing representative at Techtronic Industries. The two Smith alumni answered questions from AMA members, offering insights and advice to current Smith students.

What are your key pieces of advice?

Anne Curie

Curie suggests keeping your options open because your first job is not your forever job. “I say yes to a lot of opportunities and I recommend you do the same, just try it out, you never know where that’s going to lead you.” She explains that your first bosses might expect a lot out of you, and it’s important to like the work you’re doing as well as the people you’re working with.

Maryum Nassar

Nassar advises against “sticking it out” if your job doesn’t align with what you want to do. She explains that “a lot of people always say definitely stay in your job for x amount of time, or at least a year, but I think it does depend on the case as well.”

What does an average day look like for you?

Anne Curie

“Learning what you don’t like is sometimes more important than learning what you do like,” Curie says, outlining that her first roles were actually for smaller companies. A lot of the time you also need to create projects for yourself, which is a weird dynamic shift from school where there are specific assignments to complete.

Maryum Nassar

Most of Nassar’s work focused on marketing analytics, but she eventually found it overwhelming, realizing that her true interest lay in the more creative side of marketing. “I got to a point, though, in my career where I had learned what I needed to take from it,” she explains, adding that a lot of the next steps required relocation.

How is the adjustment to work-life after college?

Anne Curie

Curie explains that it’s a really big change to go in and sit at a desk for eight hours a day. She recommends developing a routine and planning out the week to help with the adjustment. She emphasizes the importance of pursuing a variety of internships to figure out what you enjoy, as well as making the most of the resources available at Smith and leveraging your connections.

Maryum Nassar

It’s okay if it doesn’t go as planned, you should know what you’re comfortable doing and Smith does a really good job of setting students up for success. Nassar advises having a good relationship with your employer, and for students to look into internships while still in college, especially by confidently reaching out to professionals on LinkedIn. She explains that this is how she got the opportunity to work in marketing for New York Fashion Week, an experience she particularly enjoyed.

How much freedom do you have at work and how do you deal with it?

Anne Curie

You have as much freedom as your boss will give you and it’s important to push for something you believe in. Curie says it’s important to advocate for yourself and that even winning one person over is helpful because they can advocate for you too. You shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help, and after you’re with a manager for a long time you can anticipate a little better which is huge.

Maryum Nassar

Sometimes no direction is really good because you can showcase how you would take on that project. It’s hard to know how someone wants to be perceived so ask questions to see what they’re looking for, because employers want to see someone coachable. On another note, Nassar explains that creative freedom can be taken in any specific direction and that it can be a way to go above and beyond expectations.

What is your advice for underclassmen?

Anne Curie

Curie reveals that she actually didn’t start as a business major. Her advice to freshmen is to not stress, promote yourself and take advantage of Smith resources. She explains that there are a lot of fellowship programs, such as the Strategic Design Fellows, and that it is important to explore all of the options.

Maryum Nassar

Nassar also says that resources are huge at Smith. Underclassmen should go to all networking events and be involved in as much as possible to prepare for internship opportunities offered junior year. You should also take the free LinkedIn Learning classes to build skills and add to your resume.

What is one thing we should take away from today?

Anne Curie

“A job is a job, it’s not your whole life. Everything will work out in the end.”

Maryum Nassar

“Regardless of the situation, always look for something you can take from [an opportunity].”

A huge thanks to our two Smith alumni for sharing such valuable insight on launching a career in marketing! Another big thank you to Giana Colonna for leading this engaging discussion.

-Ashley Morrison