In my role spearheading academic outreach for AZIMA (Arizona Interactive Marketing Association) I finally wised up and decided we need to create a summary document for Arizona’s hiring companies and university students to help them connect. I had been helping AZIMA member companies “manually” until I realized that ASU (Arizona State University – the largest student population in the Phoenix area … not to mention among the largest universities in the country) is really, really challenging to navigate.
ASU is particularly challenging to navigate for early stage companies with little time and resource. Many of the companies involved in AZIMA as either members or event attendees are from small, early stage firms in interactive marketing – one of the pockets of growth in our economy. At the same time that these companies are seeking to hire graduates, academia realizes that more and more of their graduates are likely to end up at these smaller businesses. The larger firms that have traditionally dominated university recruiting are shedding employees, not hiring them. Unfortunately, this creates a marketing challenge for academia. How do they reach and service a larger number of hiring employers with diminishing resources? Like any business, the universities need to do more with less (budgets are under severe pressure) so reaching the community through joint efforts with organizations like AZIMA is one way to tap these smaller markets.
- For access to our guide to AZIMA’s Academic Outreach with resources for hiring companies and students seeking jobs and internships click here.
- At the same link, you will also find a link to download a resume book highlighting the individual students in ASU’s W.P. Carey Graduate School of Business program in Marketing Strategy and Services Leadership.
Thanks go to Vivek Gupta, a product of this same graduate marketing program at ASU several years ag0, for helping me put together this guide for AZIMA.
