By Aliza Bolliger, Intern
“What do you want to do for your career?” became a scarier question each time someone asked me. Sometimes, I would come up with a random profession or ramble on about how I am trying out my choices at community college. Though I always encouraged everyone else to explore their options and take their time, I was very hesitant to grant myself that same amount of grace.
The further I got into my 20s, the more I felt I should know what I wanted to do with my life.
My decision to join the public relations industry came from a lot of trial and error at De Anza Community College that ultimately led me to focus on two of my interests — writing and talking about my favorite companies.
The ability to create through storytelling and being thoughtful with my words, combined with getting to passionately support a company, sounded like fun to me. In fact, I once saw a documentary in high school on the Disney parks that featured a company spokesperson, and I found myself jealous that her whole career was her talking about a company. As an FYI — if you bring up The Walt Disney Company around me, prepare for a long discussion on my time spent as a cast member (this also comes up sometimes unprompted).
Meanwhile, I had those around me encouraging me to be some type of a writer, and as these pieces fell together, I decided during my time at De Anza I would take a communications class (that had a single PR project). That one class was inspiring and started to set off a domino effect of me pursuing this industry as my career.
After graduating in May 2021 from San Jose State University, dealing with a global pandemic and a few failed tries with interviewing with different companies, a former professor connected me to an internship with The Hoffman Agency. The position seemed like a good progression into the professional world as it was both an opportunity to work and learn.
It’s now my first week into this internship, and what it seemed like is more than true. This has certainly already proven to be an opportunity that will lend itself to my growth as a person and a professional, and I hope I can give back to the agency as much as they will for me.
Feeling like a newborn in the industry feels incredibly intimidating, but I remind myself that this is a profession based on constant learning, and that I am currently surrounded by welcoming agency coworkers ready and happy to answer my many questions. Aside from that, I am excited to hone my writing skills, learn more about media relations and truly understand what it means to work in a tech-focused agency.
Outside of the business of our virtual public relations world, I am someone who likes to spend a lot of time with my fiancé — whether simply at home or doing some type of safe and socially distanced activity. I am also a homebody who likes alone time to recharge, so I enjoy watching a movie or binge watching a show with my cat, Bug. As a result of the pandemic, I, like many others, have chosen to become more creative by making homemade clay earrings. I don’t think I am very good yet, but I just learned how to make flowers by hand, so I am excited to see how I grow — just as I am excited to see how I grow at Hoffman!
