One of our marketing inters,
Alycia Dafoe, of Marlborough, MA is strategically taking the knowledge and experience she acquired with us at
Downey Insurance Group and is applying it to her college education at UMASS Amherst. Alycia worked on our Blog Great Insurance People, our Facebook Page, Twitter Account and our You Tube Channel during her time with us. But her work on our Great Insurance People Blog has had the most impact for our agency. Her two top performing blog post
Downey Insurance Supports the Make-A-Wish Foundation and
New Hampshire Passed New Legislation Regarding Subcontractors have brought in over 2,300 page views to our site. We value the time that Alycia gave us, and she has also taken full advantage of the opportunity. If you or someone you know would be interested in interning with us at Downey Insurance you can contact Catie Downey Potenza at
[email protected].
Here is an update from Alycia:
As a junior in high school, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity of having an internship through Downey Insurance, working with the Social Media Marketing side of the company. Knowing I wanted to study marketing in college, I was ecstatic to be learning new skills and having real world applications. At my time with Downey Insurance, I learned the ins and outs of Social Media Marketing when it came to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and blogging.
Now in my second year at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in the Isenberg School of Management, double majoring in marketing and communications, I have been able to apply the knowledge I learned at Downey Insurance in my business courses; specifically in my Career and Professional Development seminar.
The Career and Professional Development class is geared towards preparing students for success in career competencies such as internship/ job search skills, industry research, assessment of skills and professional branding, and professional etiquette. Specific activities that are included are resume writing, developing an “elevator” pitch, learning about academic majors and their links to career outcomes, meeting one on one with corporate guests for feedback on resumes and interview skills, building a professional network, and improving our online presence.
An assignment that was given in this class was to gather information about the field we are interested in through an informational interview. Catie Downey Potenza, Downey Insurance’s Social Media Marketing Manager, provided me with further insight about the marketing field. Even though the informational interview was for an assignment, I view the knowledge that Catie gave me as valuable tools for getting ahead in the field. I really appreciated her responses because they gave me an idea of what is to come ahead. I think it is important to learn as much about the industry you are interested in so you know you have the right fit when you search for a job.
In a discussion about branding and media presence in the class, I was able to add to the conversation some knowledge I had learned through my internship at Downey Insurance. The topic of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) came up, and I discussed my experience with using Astonish Results at Downey Insurance and how it was interesting and useful to see the back end and logistics side of what you are putting out there on the Internet.
Not only was my internship with Downey Insurance a great way to learn valuable skills that I will use in my future career, I was also able to form relationships with the amazing staff there. I hope to maintain my connections with them, continue to learn more about the marketing industry with more marketing specific courses, and be able to apply the skills I’ve acquired.
