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6 Oct 2009 14:32:07
Alin Dobrea is hoping to pass on his experiences from a memorable summer after graduating from a prestigious advertising course.
The international student from Romania is now taking a gap year before he completes his studies in BA Advertising and Marketing Communications.
He has recently started a work placement with Bridges CETL as a student liaison officer before taking his third year.
The budding advertising exec gained some invaluable experience over the summer when he was one of a dozen students to win an internship on the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) Summer School.
Alin is now producing a report to encourage other students to arrange placements and is also encouraging other students at the University to apply to the summer school.
He said: “I would highly recommend the IPA Summer School to any student looking to start a career in ad-land.”
His travel expenses for the 10-week IPA Summer School were funded by CETL (Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning).
Competition for the 12 places was fierce and attracted students and recent graduates from universities from across the country.
During the placement, Alin was given a full introduction to agency life and the opportunity to work on real client business.
He said: “The IPA Summer School is one of the most amazing experiences for a student who wants to get into advertising. The people at my agency are all good at what they do and really helpful.
“This year was especially competitive with graduates also involved this time. It was really intensive with long hours and I was commuting from Luton to London each day.”
As well as visiting the head offices of the likes of Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, he also got to see other agencies and meet industry experts through a series of special evening seminars and social events as well as winning £1,000.
The 12 agencies taking part were 3sixty, Grand Union, EHS Brann, Stephens Francis Whitson, LIDA, Proximity, Ogilvy, CMW, ispy, Kitcatt Nohr, Rapier and HS&P.
Alin said: “We visited all the main agencies in London as part of the programme. There were also workshops from leading industry professionals.
“It was a really superb opportunity and I learned a lot, although it was definitely a steep learning curve.”
The last fortnight of the summer school saw him part of the winning team which designed a brief for the LIDA advertising agency on the new Mini Cooper Convertible.
All the planning, research and strategy was undertaken outside of normal hours. This meant designing direct mails, emails and a website and presenting all their ideas to a judging panel.
Latest news» 2009» October» Alin loved his summer in ad-land
