Not many entry-level jobs out of college can provide you with years of experience in just 12 months and a support network of industry experts, allow you to immediately make a direct contribution to the industry, and catapult your career. The DMEF's Next Generation Leaders program provided me with all those things and more.
The network was an exciting and unexpected benefit. I was shocked that CEOs and industry experts were not only eager to mentor me (and my three colleagues), but that they actually wanted our input and valued our opinions. Beyond the immediate bonds that were formed at each company while working alongside prominent marketers, the DMEF Board also respected us and our views.
This open forum to exchange ideas and viewpoints directly challenged everything I had heard about the negative views of our generation. The DMEF valued our contribution and supported us so we could make immediate contributions to the industry. It was not a "one way" relationship where we were being taught or merely shadowing. It was two-way learning that is so important in bridging the gap between digital natives and digital immigrants. It is invaluable that the DMEF has realized this and created programs like the Next Generation Leaders which take advantage of this.
After the program ended, it continued to benefit my personal and career development. Goodman&Company, a strategic marketing consultancy and one of the Next Generation Leaders-sponsor companies, offered me a full-time position. The program had accelerated my learning so much that I was immediately able to contribute to advanced projects for Global 100 companies.
To top off my experience, I also became the youngest member ever nominated to the DMEF Board of Trustees in January 2009. It is my personal mission not only to contribute my point of view as a recent graduate of the program, but to encourage the development of insights around the student target audience so that more graduates can have the advantages that I had by being in Next Generation Leaders and connected to the DMEF.
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