Amanda Nielsen, ’19 on Marketing, Internships, and Post-Graduation

A Q&A with Amanda Nielsen, ’19 // Marketing

Marketing major Amanda Nielsen, ‘19, was hired in a senior position at New Breed Marketing a full year before graduating from Champlain College. In this interview, we talk with Nielsen about her Marketing major and how she landed her amazing post-grad job.

Q: Why did you choose Champlain’s Marketing major?

A: Champlain’s marketing curriculum is unlike any other marketing curriculum I’ve ever heard of. I have friends at other schools studying the same thing, and they don’t get nearly as much hands-on experience. The people who interviewed me for my internship were in shock about how much real-life experience I already had before even graduating. At Champlain, we get to work with real companies. The Marketing major is so well-rounded and you really walk away with a solid foundation.

Q: How has the Upside-Down Curriculum shaped your education/career?

A: The Stiller School of Business provided me with valuable hands-on experience through projects with real clients in the Burlington area. It was a game-changer to be able to say I’ve already worked with actual companies. Most business programs are full of vocabulary tests and outdated case studies. That’s not how it happens at Champlain. The Marketing program in particular did an amazing job preparing me for my internship and the launch of my career.

Being able to take a class relevant to my major during my first year set me apart from my peers and helped me land my first internship.

Q: Can you tell me about your internship?

A: I was an intern at New Breed Marketing for two years. I started the summer after my sophomore year. New Breed is a local marketing firm that specializes in offering marketing and sales solutions to the B2B software space. We work with software companies all over the world. I work on the internal marketing team, so I do the marketing for the marketing firm, which entails teaching other marketers about marketing.

My internship began as a social media marketing internship. At the end of my senior year, I was managing New Breed’s strategic partnerships. New Breed offered me a full-time salaried position at a senior level a full year before I graduated.

Q: What was the coolest thing you got to do while at your internship?

A: New Breed has offered me amazing opportunities. I even got to speak at the HubSpot INBOUND 2018 conference, which is a national marketing conference. I applied as a speaker when I was 20 years old and an intern. I got accepted, and I gave two 45-minute presentations in front of 400 people on how marketers can leverage data to inform their marketing strategy.

Interested in finding out more about our innovative and hands-on approach to business education? Check out the Robert P. Stiller School of Business to find the perfect major for you!