Rency Luan, a fourth-year Arts and Business student majoring in Rhetoric English, shares her experience working in various digital marketing positions.
Rency started as a Digital Marketing Intern at Amica Senior Lifestyles company. She then transitioned into her second co-op term at Manulife, where she worked as a Marketing Coordinator for the real estate division, which was a mix of digital marketing and brand marketing. Rency and her team focused on over 300 properties in North America, leveraging any events and brand moments that they had. Part of her job was making sure the content was on brand and sending out email campaigns.
As Rency was cruising along to her third co-op term, the pandemic hit, and all of her interviews were cancelled. Rency didn’t get any jobs during that time but fortunately, Waterloo was hiring Online Learning Assistants (OLA's). Waterloo created over 100 jobs just for students in the midst of the pandemic. Rency worked as an OLA in the English department and got to work with a lot of professors that she previously had classes with!
For her fourth co-op, Rency landed a job at Mejuri as the Brand Marketing Co-op. Rency says, “For this role, it was very much brand focused and so a lot of it was brand partnerships and events. Half the time I would be working with the PR manager, and we would send out products to VIPs and celebrities. I also contacted editors and stylists, ensuring that we have a really good relationship with them.”
Rency then re-applied to Mejuri but this time for their growth marketing team on WaterlooWorks. She says, “I am an English major. I don't have a background in numbers and going in that was my biggest fear."
"What happens if I can't do any of the calculations? What is the average order value for this ad? What are the zip codes for this wild posting? It was pretty intense for the first month, but the thing with growth and digital is that there's a huge learning curve!”
Co-op is trying to figure out what you don't want to do more so than what you actually want to do.
What tips would you give to someone going into co-op?
“Don't compare your co-op positions with your friends. That's like comparing apples to whales or some odd thing, right? We're in different programs, different majors, and different industries. Why are you trying to compare yourself to someone who is completely different from you? I feel like it's something that we always tend to do but if you're going to compare, compare yourself to yourself!”
How do you keep yourself motivated during your work terms?
“I would work at my desk, and then I would go to Starbucks and work for a bit or go to a rooftop, just switching my environment constantly. Right now, things are getting better. We're getting vaccinated. So, I've just been going to library cafes, and I think that really helps. Also keeping track of my progress in terms of developing my own goals and KPIs (key performance indicators). At the end of each week, I would do a summary to reflect on my learnings, my highlights and my areas for improvement.”
What's next for you?
"Honestly, very scary to think about. Currently, grad school is on the horizon. Work will probably be put on hold until grad school sorts itself out. Excited for whatever is next!"