Connor Broshar G’22
Newhouse Master’s Program: Advertising
Current Position: Marketing Analyst- Content and Messaging APEX Portfolio Marketing, Dell Technologies
One of the things I did while in graduate school was stay really close to the relationships that I had formed with recruiters at Dell. I knew I wanted to work for a technology company with a great culture. I was originally supposed to join their sales academy out of undergrad, but I wanted to go to Newhouse when the opportunity was given to me. I couldn’t pass that chance up. While at Newhouse I learned quite a bit about the client side of advertising, and this led me to want to pursue opportunities at Dell. Prior to my current position, I had internships at small agencies as well as at Dell.
As part of a rotational program, I got to experience a variety of different roles in my first two years at Dell. So, an average day depends on the role I am in. I just left the executive communications team prior to joining the APEX portfolio team. In my exec comms role, my days were always different. The team and work you are doing reflect the current climate or situation that the company is in. There is internal comms work as well as external customer-facing messaging. I was really focused on Dell Tech World during my previous rotation. It is an event that Dell holds in Las Vegas every summer for customers and partners. I got to be part of the creation of a show for an interview between James Cameron and our chief marketing officer Allison Dew. This was a cool experience. In my current role, I am working on creating messaging for the business value of APEX, which is our end-to-end portfolio of multicloud, as-a-service and pay-per-use solutions. Part of my role is to make sure our customers and partners realize the business value of our multicloud solution.
Newhouse opened my eyes to a lot of different routes in my career. When I came into the program, I was positive I wanted to go the common route of working for an advertising agency upon graduation. Once I was in the program it didn’t take long for me to realize that I could be on the other side of that advertising business transaction. Agencies need businesses like Dell to build up their portfolio and make a profit. The unique thing about being on the client side is you have a different perspective and appreciation for what the agencies do and get to work with those agencies or in-house advertising teams as well. I enjoyed learning about agency work, but I wanted to be at a bigger company while still getting to work with agencies. Newhouse supports this route, and it is becoming more common. I have colleagues who have worked at advertising agencies and have come over to the client side at Dell just to experience something different. I was inspired by the professionals that would come into our class virtually at the time and speak about the client side of the advertising business. I also had great professors at Newhouse who supported this route including Professor James Tsao and Professor Kevin O’Neill. Setting up office hours and having conversations with professors solidified going to a larger company from the program.
Yes, 1000%. Before I joined the program, I thought I had made my mind up to join an advertising agency out of school. If it were not for Newhouse, I would not have seen that there was much more to the advertising world. I had no idea prior to Newhouse that you could be on the other side of the business and working with agencies while still reaping the rewards at a large technology company. Most of the research we did within the program relates to some of the work I am doing in marketing. Most of my roles at Dell so far have involved deep levels of consumer research and the work I did at Newhouse not only prepared me for this, but also opened my eyes to endless possibilities of future roles.
If it were not for Newhouse, I would not have seen that there was much more to the advertising world. I had no idea prior to Newhouse that you could be on the other side of the business and working with agencies while still reaping the rewards at a large technology company.
For me it was the fact that Newhouse is one of the best communication schools in the entire nation. The school’s prestige and world-class professors with real world experience drew me in from the start. That combined with the program being only one year long was really attractive. I could learn a lot in a short time frame and get going with my career sooner. All of these things make Newhouse so unique.
They did. I was able to meet virtually to get some advice, suggestions, resume work and more. Most of the networking was done on my end, but if I was in a tough spot or was not getting what I needed I always had help there for me. The people in the office really care about your wellbeing. Since the program was only a year long, I did not have the bandwidth for an internship at the time. I did get some awesome volunteer time with one of my professors and a few other students showing some younger school children what Newhouse has to offer.
Some of the biggest misconceptions is that the creative field is starting to fall apart because of the rise in Gen AI or other platforms. This is not true. Creativity and the human brain are needed to filter out bias and input human thoughts and characteristics. These AI type tools help us, but will not be replacing jobs within the industry in advertising or marketing. Another misconception is that you need a marketing degree to be in the client side of the business that I am in. This is not true as well. I think having an advertising degree puts you at an advantage, especially one from Newhouse. You can come in with a different perspective and I think it bodes well for variety. A final misconception is that you cannot start on the client side in the industry. While it is more common for someone with an advertising degree to start within an agency, it is very easy to make the move to the client side as long as you know that’s what you want to do. Marketing departments are looking for people with communications degrees, advertising degrees and more. Agency experience helps as well. You can come in with a different perspective of what the agency wants and how they operate. In my first role at Dell, I was in the creative retail space working with agencies and being able to understand their needs and pain points better because of Newhouse.
Most of my roles at Dell so far have involved deep levels of consumer research and the work I did at Newhouse not only prepared me for this, but also opened my eyes to endless possibilities of future roles.
I would have to say so far it has been the variety of work I’ve been able to be part of. Working on creative retail guides with agencies like Wunderman Thompson and Landor and Fitch was an amazing experience. Working on a Dell Technologies World event like the interview this past year with Allison Dew and James Cameron was something I’ll never forget or take for granted. The most fulfilling part of my career since leaving Newhouse so far has been working with a variety of different people with different work experiences. I can’t wait to see what more I can do in my next role at Dell as well.
I would say go to those office hours and create conversation. Look, you are only here for a year so you might as well soak up all you can with professors because the year goes by fast. Same could be said for undergrads as well. I recommend trying a class or two that opens your eyes and makes you really think as well. I had a class with Professor Sean Branagan on entrepreneurship that had nothing to do with advertising, but really had an impact on me. Try something like that. I would highly recommend networking with your cohort because they could help you in the future, and also expand your network to other programs. Lastly, I would say it is ok if you don’t have it all figured out. There’s a lot of pressure to know what you want to do. I thought I had it figured out before going into the program and the truth is there is a lot more that you will learn even in a year that could take you another route.