News Story

Media professionals met with journalism students in one-on-one sessions Friday to discuss preparation for potential careers in the fields of design and public relations.

Bernadette Sheridan, BA’93, senior visual designer at macys.com, and Sara Brazeal, BAJ’97, PCI Communications senior account supervisor, each talked to several graduating seniors about their designs, photography and press releases during the spring semester Experts Workshop. They guided students in what to expect during job interviews for entry-level positions.

Before their appointments, the two said they planned to focus on what new graduates should expect during jobs interviews for entry-level positions.

Brazeal said many students do not take into account the level of media relations work they will have if they work in public relations.

“Most people at my agency aren’t doing a ton of writing at the beginning,” she said. “They certainly aren’t doing a strategic plan at the beginning. They are really working with the media, so any opportunity that people have to practice that skill is really valuable.”

Brazeal worked for the IDS and Arbutus while attending IU, and said she always expected to work in newspapers. After working at The Indianapolis Star, she realized that she was better suited for a job in public relations.

Sheridan, too, emphasized the importance of change.

“Don’t be afraid to move on,” she said. “If you ever find yourself in a position where you’re no longer learning, it’s time to move on.”

After spending 11 years at the Daily News in New York, Sheridan moved on to photo editor at AOL, working at a custom magazine company and at Daily Candy, an NBC Universal website that produced daily material about local businesses.

Sheridan also made time to visit with Professor Emeritus Claude Cookman, who she said influenced her decisions.

“What I love about Claude is that he helped me understand what I could do with my journalism degree to make it more about visual storytelling,” she explained.

Career Services director Marcia Debnam organizes the Experts Workshops every semester. She said she selects alumni working in different areas for the sessions, which offer one-on-one consultations about careers and portfolio critiques.

“It gives both students and alumni an opportunity to engage in an exchange of information about ideas about the professions that the alumni represent,” Debnam said. “It a wonderful opportunity for students to network and learn about what is expected of them in the industries they aspire to be in.”

For example, Brazeal advised senior Arika Jeter on how to make her writing more concise and detailed, and how to pitch to media. Senior Maddie Glenn said she appreciated hearing about Brazeal’s own experience.

“She gave me a lot of advice on what an entry level position looks like at her agency, which is great because that’s exactly what I’m looking for and exactly what I’d be doing at an agency in the PR field,” Glenn said.

Senior Audrey Perkins manages a food blog and discussed photography and Web visuals with Sheridan.

“She helped me to figure out how to do infographics that still managed to maintain a high SEO level, just because infographics do not have text that Google can reference. So that was useful because I’ve been trying to do that for a year,” Perkins said.