The Portfolio Program - Radford University: Fill & Download for Free

Hi, Leah.Don't be discouraged by the terse nature of the previous responses.There are a lot of avenues you can go down with a degree in Communication. When I got my BA in Communication from Truman State in 2001, it was what I would describe as a liberal arts degree overviewing Marketing, PR and Journalism, and there was an alternate path for getting a Bachelor of Science, which was more focused on understanding language and how languages can be applied in science such as Natural Language Processing (NLP), which is an increasingly popular field in software development that is driving today's popular buzz in business referred to as "Big Data Analytics," which is currently being embraced by marketers and business strategists to better understand the market demand for products and effectiveness of all facets of business.When I graduated, my mind was open to a lot of possibilities. I developed a journalistic sense of how to structure a column and I enjoyed the creative rush of writing creative copy for advertising. My parents' advised me against advertising because it's a volatile field that rapidly expands and shrinks based on economic conditions. Businesses pull their marketing budgets in scarce economic times because it isn't essential to operation, even though we are taught that marketing drives demand for sales that support operations. I enjoyed my stints as a reporter for the school magazine and newspaper and I thought that would be a great path because people will always consume the news. But graduating in May 2001, that turned out not to be the case for me.In February of that year I'd been offered a job as a junior copywriter at Valentine Radford in Kansas City, but the offer dried up before I graduated in May. I got placed as a copy editor in the catalog department at Hallmark and was subsequently laid off in less than a week. The Kansas City Star was on a six month hiring freeze, and all the job postings I saw were for people with 3-5 years of experience, so I took a job as a cashier at Victoria's Secret to pay my way through the holidays.Some people in the corporate world might frown on taking a job in retail, but at the time, I saw it as a realistic way to pay my bills while I figured things out, and it turned out to be a great decision. When the market in Kansas City had not improved a year later, I decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film, and I was able to transfer out with a full time job at the Victoria's Secret in the Beverly Center. That location gave me access to so many people and experiences that helped me shape my career.Victoria's Secret has a very solid sales management program that is deeply focused on communication variables that drive the sale and connecting with customers. I was in the field using my knowledge of product, price, promotion and connecting it with in store metrics like units per transaction, average dollar sale and conversion. At the same time, I was learning to establish myself as an expert on lingerie fitting and elicit trust from women who let me see them in their undergarments to make recommendations and adjustments. And aside from the average Jane, guess who was getting comfortable in their undies with me? Literary agents and starlets and television producers.I appeared on behalf of Victoria's Secret as a guest expert on a pilot episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Girl, and the job worked around my crazy schedule as I went on to complete my Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Screen & Television at USC, interned on season 3 of the Apprentice, and later interned for the (non-Marvel) comic book studio that sold the rights to the majority of the comic book movies that were made over the last ten years.When I had finished my master's degree and had my fill of the retail world, I had an initial struggle because I had risen to making more money as a store manager than companies were willing to offer at entry level, but I connected with a temp agency and developed a portfolio of writing samples and even samples of reports I could create in Excel and PowerPoint Presentations and I was able to use these visuals as proof in a job interview that I was capable of doing the work.I networked my way into a job as a temp administrative assistant in the Engineering department at Facebook back when it was a modest 300ish employees. I wasn't one of the masterminds, but I was the person that sent faxes and reserved conference rooms and did all kinds of little favors for the engineers that were figuring out targeted advertising and search and monetization. Facebook's culture of transparency meant that some of those people were open to sharing ideas with me and actually listening when I had some of my academic and sales world insights to offer. Over the space of a year, the company grew from approximately 300 to 1000 employees and rocketed toward IPO.My time there as a nobody, combined with my management experience and academic training in writing was enough to get hired as a personal assistant to the director of a documentary on AIDS in Zimbabwe called "Tapestries of Hope," and that slingshotted me into the world of politics and nonprofit as I edited and published her blogs for the Huffington Post, coordinated details for her public appearances to promote the film and lobby for politicians to support the International Violence Against Women Act. I went on from there to work on the distribution of an independent film starring Benjamin Bratt titled "La Mission," for which I organized Cinequest after parties and negotiated the printing and shipping of movie posters and other promotional materials.Following the market crash at the end of 2009, jobs were scarce again and I took a job as an enumerator for the 2010 census, and later moved to Dallas, TX because I had heard that jobs were much more plentiful. When I charmed my way into the Dallas distribution office for Universal Pictures, the office manager explained to me that the local jobs were nothing so glamorous or exciting as my experience in California and that their office just literally planned the logistics and delivered the film content to the movie theaters across the Midwest. On that note, I transitioned my skills back to marketing and business development. I realized that there weren't many jobs for writers because companies were relying on their graphic designers to write, so I got an old copy of Adobe Creative Suite and started teaching myself to create diagrams and manipulate graphics, and suddenly I wasn't just a writer. I was a designer that could write, and there weren't a whole lot of those competing with me.I started writing business proposals and contract exhibits for a construction company, and then for a telecom start-up, and then dove back into movies at Studio Movie Grill where I was half of a two person team planning and promoting alternate programs for 15 movie theaters nationwide, writing media alerts and press releases and coordinating and executing community outreach events. I organized a Bring Your Own Barbie day and a Pound Puppies pet adoption day, acted as a reporter video documenting work Studio Movie Grill employees did building a house for Habitat for Humanity, and wrangled a team of 95 runners to participate in the Children's Medical Center Red Balloon Run & Ride fundraiser, where we tied for first place for best team tent.Currently I am writing a commercialization plan for a software R&D developing an NLP solution for Clinical Decision Support on a grant from the National Science Foundation, and am ramping up to develop franchise marketing materials for a Montessori School system. As you can tell by my journey, there are so many different places your career could grow. The guiding principle that has gotten me this far over the last thirteen years is that:I am in the business of doing whatever I convince someone to pay me to do.The career can be whatever you choose it to be. You just have to sell your employer of choice on the fact that you have a skill that is a value worth paying for.

I will reference the courses from my Alma Mater, Radford University where I attended to earn a degree in Interior Design. Every school is different and has its own curriculum but what I listed below is standard for a four year Interior Design program. I took more electives than required in Art History and Marketing.***On the list below if there are more courses listed than credits required, students select the classes that interest you the most. ***Core CurriculumPHIL 112 - Introduction: Ethics and SocietyART 215 - Art History Survey: Prehistory to GothicSOCY 110 - Introduction to SociologySOCY 121 - Understanding CulturesECON 105 - Principles of MacroeconomicsART 216 - Art History Survey: Renaissance to ContemporaryPSYC 121 - Introduction to PsychologyDesign Core (12 credits)DSN 100 - Design FundamentalsDSN 110 - Introduction to DesignDSN 143 - Business of DesignDSN 173 - Design PsychologyDSN 340 - Pre-Internship SeminarDesign Support (8 Credits)DSN 220 - Media PresentationDSN 223 - TextilesDSN 402 - Global Design StudioInterior Design Core (53 Credits)DSNI 103 - Visual Thinking for DesignDSNI 125 - Technical DraftingDSNI 200 - Sophomore Studio IDSNI 202 - Presentation TechniquesDSNI 205 - Sophomore Studio IIDSNI 300 - Junior Studio IDSNI 305 - Junior Studio IIDSNI 320 - Computer Aided Design IDSNI 322 - Building Systems & CodesDSNI 325 - Computer Aided Design IIDSNI 341 - Interior Design InternshipDSNI 350 - History of Interiors IDSNI 355 - History of Interiors IIDSNI 375 - Design Theory and ResearchDSNI 400 - Senior Studio IDSNI 405 - Senior Studio IIDSNI 407 - Senior Showcase and PortfolioDSNI 445 - Professional Practice and EthicsSupporting Courses/Electives (6 credits)COMS 114 - Public SpeakingCOMS 225 - Introduction to Public RelationsCOMS 330 - Communication TheoryCOMS 235 - Writing for Public RelationsCOMS 240 - Teamwork and CommunicationFINC 251 - Personal FinanceFINC 336 - Principles of Real EstatePHIL 310 - Professional EthicsPHIL 380 - AestheticsMGNT 250 - Entrepreneurship and InnovationMGNT 322 - Organizational BehaviorMGNT 350 - Owning and Managing a BusinessMGNT 450 - Managing New Venture CreationMKTG 343 - RetailingMKTG 350 - Consumer BehaviorSOCY 370 - Environmental SociologyPSYC 282 - Consumer PsychologyPSYC 347 - Environmental PsychologyPSYC 381 - Psychology of Work BehaviorPSYC 429 - Maturity and AgingTHEA 100 - Theatre AppreciationTHEA 180 - Introduction to World CinemaTHEA 381 - Foundations of Cinematic AestheticsTHEA 330 - Theatre Design IAny ARTAny Electives (3–4) creditsSelect any class you want