Jenifer Rawlings ’13 (BUAD) began her career as marketing coordinator for key accounts with the popular global jewelry brand PANDORA just days before graduating with her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Marketing in 2013. Her quick launch into the career world was aided by her involvement in The Associate competition at Towson University.
“I think a lot of my success has been because of my experience with The Associate [competition].”
The Associate, a seven week long competition for graduating seniors in the College of Business and Economics, was originally inspired by NBC’s reality TV program “The Apprentice.” Eight graduating seniors are selected to compete in teams tackling weekly cases presented by local, regional, and national companies. Each week, one team wins and a member of the losing team is eliminated from the competition. The two finalists compete head-to-head for a job offer from the presenting company.
Just being selected to compete was a competition in and of itself, says Rawlings.
“You had to apply and get recommendations from teachers, do a video and overall an application for a board. And the board picked the participants, and then [if you were chosen to compete] you … [were placed] into two teams.”
Rawlings’ team ended up winning three of the four cases and she made it all the way to the final four. After the interview round, where candidates are judged individually, Rawlings was eliminated from the competition. Still, Rawlings found it to be an invaluable experience and admits that it ended up for the best. Being a creative individual, taking a job at a bank, which was the presenting company that year, would not have been the best fit, she says.
“One thing that I think Towson, as well as PANDORA, has taught me is that you do have to be very clear what your goals are and also know what exactly is expected of you from the beginning. ”
Rawlings had been interning with PANDORA during her final years at TU and, unbeknownst to her, was making a great impression.
“When I submitted for a full time position, the director had already noticed me. I had never talked to the director, but just by having conversations with my current manager and other people, my name was put in his ear,” she says.
Word had also gotten out about her stint on The Associate.
“It was a really unique experience to be able to talk about what I was doing at the time with Towson, which was The Associate program, and I think that was something he was really curious about.”
Rawlings can’t say for sure if her involvement in The Associate secured her current position, but she is positive it helped.
“It made for an interesting conversation,” she says.
Nevertheless, knowing what you want and what others expect of you is something Rawlings sees as a vital part of success.
“I’ve seen a lot of people either burn out or they never really voice what they think they want,” she says. “And one thing that I think Towson, as well as PANDORA, has taught me is that you do have to be very clear what your goals are and also know what exactly is expected of you from the beginning.”