CAREer DAY
/ THE opportunity
During a field research project interviewing Detroit high school students, we realized there was a lack of representation of young BIPOC in the Detroit advertising community. Inspired to create more diversity in the talent pipeline, we designed an internal agency program to give local students access to the industry, build a professional network, and provide tools and advice to help them navigate their career paths.
/ ROLE
Co-creator & Facilitator, Project Management, Design, Creative Direction, Production
/ team
Co-created with LaShonda Allen
Participating High Schools:
Detroit School of Arts, Cass Tech, Renaissance, Communication & Media, Arts, Randolph Tech
All of the Commonwealth//McCann staff that made all of this possible! 🏆 ❤️
/ AGENCY 101 + TOUR
Detroit Public High Schools were invited to Commonwealth//McCann, where we gave a breakdown of what advertising is and the work we do, featuring talks and Q&A with agency leaders, and an office tour. We ended the day with a mini project brief for students to create their own ad and present it to the group.
/ job shadowing extension
After a successful run of Career Days, there was interest for more. The Job Shadowing program was then created, where select students from Career Day would participate in a 5-week program to shadow Commonwealth employees in various departments. We also offered specialized workshops on business etiquette, resume building, and more. At the end we surprised them with a graduation party 🎉
/ virtual career day
During the pandemic, the office was closed but we still found a way to continue the high school program remotely. With the support of CW volunteers, we were able to provide a rich virtual learning experience for students with the help of online tools.
