Last Updated on 2020-10-13 by ppcguybklyn
In August 2015, I stepped out of Tucson International Airport in Arizona, a Taiwanese came to pick me up and said Hello with passion. After grabbing my luggage, we drove to my dorm. This is not my first time in Arizona. Although the summer was the same hot as what I have experienced before, my attitude was different. This time, I was going to study for a master’s degree for 2.5 years and was about to face job searching uncertainty due to the highly competitive job market in the U.S.A. However, there was one thing for sure: I would like to advance my knowledge of digital marketing and get a job here.
My Motivation of Studying Abroad and How I learned Digital Marketing
When I was in elementary school, my parents took my family to visit my aunt and uncle in Queens, New York. We spent lots of time traveling in New York City. I vividly remembered we went to the top of the Twin Towers to overlook Manhattan, and the hassle and bustle in New York City left an impression on my mind. After going back to Taiwan, my brother and I kept telling our parents that we wanted to go to New York City again. We even started saving money for the flight tickets. This experience and my relatives in the U.S.A. are my motivations for studying abroad.
After graduating from university, my first job was to use paid search ads to promote the website. At that time, Google Ads and SEO were relatively new, so the company was more willing to hire new grads with no related experience. I was lucky to get this job without work experience, learn from the job and I was willing to spend my leisure time to advance myself. In these two years, I learned a lot of digital marketing and had big progress in paid search ads. I hope I can have more learning opportunities and challenges in this area. I told myself, “If I can use English to do paid search ads and digital marketing in the U.S.A., it would be an excellent challenge for me.”
Studying in Arizona
After a lot of hard work, I got an offer from the MBA program at the University of Arizona. I had 2 goals: one was to learn more about marketing management, and the other was to get an offer in the U.S.A. with my digital marketing experience. However, I quickly found this was not an easy thing. It took me a while to communicate smoothly with classmates in English, not to mention the interviews. I had confidence in my English ability, but I still didn’t know how to start a topic to talk with native speakers. Therefore, besides focusing on the marketing related courses, I started to learn how to chat with Americans, and actively sought opportunities to network with my classmates by joining various events. I finally made some good friends, and I even had two American roommates so I got more chances to chat with Americans. I gradually know how to get along with Americans. Also, with the courses, reports, and mock interviews, I can use more precise English in interviews or professional events.
How I Got a Job in New York
To get a digital marketing job after graduation, I kept searching for related internships. However, due to the highly competitive and small amount of openings, I did not get an internship in the first year in Arizona unfortunately. In the second year, although I found an internship finally, it was a remote position with fewer work hours. Even though my search for an internship was not smooth, I was still optimistic about searching for full-time opportunities. At first, I applied to all jobs related to digital marketing. However, I found I had a higher chance to get an interview invitation when the jobs were related to paid search ads due to my experience. Therefore, I changed my strategies into only focusing on PPC positions, and targeting Arizona and its related big cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, and so on.
New York City was not my target at the beginning because it was too far from Arizona, which would not be convenient for an interview. However, 6 months later after graduation, I submitted hundreds of resumes, interviewed several times, but still didn’t get a chance. I decided to search for opportunities on the east coast such as New York City. Much to my surprise, after applying for some openings, I got a video interview invitation soon. The interview was not difficult. At that time, I was very familiar with PPC related interview questions and knew how to reply to hiring managers with lots of interview experience. In the end, the day after the interview, I got an offer. This was excellent news for me. I accepted the offer without hesitation and prepared to make a big move from Arizona to New York City within two weeks. After 20 years, I finally came back to New York.
My Second Impression to New York City
After living in New York City as a resident, I found it was totally different from a traveler to an office worker. Busy streets and subway, unstoppable horns from cars, and indifferent personality of east coast people are novel to travelers. However, when you live here and these have been a part of your life, you would feel New York City is an unfriendly city. At the same time, finding a place to stay in this big city in the U.S.A. still makes me feel I am the lucky one. Sometimes when I stepped out of the office, seeing both the 18th century and modern architectures mix in this city, and skyscrapers in the far place, I would think I may have lived in many people’s dreams, and tell myself I just have to seize the chances.
Current Job and Future Plan
I really enjoy my current job now. Our company uses various digital marketing tools to promote service and products for E-Commerce clients. My job is to plan and execute PPC Ads for these clients. Not only can I contact clients from various industries but can I learn tools used only by agencies. In this job, I can apply my profession and advance myself as well as be responsible for some famous or high budget accounts because our agency is located in Manhattan. Communicating with these clients and reporting performance to them also make my business English progress a lot. I hope I can make use of the experience to make my digital marketing career path smooth.
As a foreign workforce here, seeking a career is much harder than I at first thought. However, I still get an ideal job in the end with my profession. What I learned from the experience in these years was: “Don’t give up easily. By focusing on what you’re good at or interested in, in the end, your efforts will bring you a decent payoff.
