Technology makes WCSU students more marketable
 

Alexandra Lehmann is a savvy businesswoman. A principal partner and the creative director at Ridgefield-based L&L Transmedia Communications, she knows that the key to the success of her marketing communications firm is to stay on top of trends in business development. She also recognizes that grooming and hiring the best and brightest employees who possess cutting-edge skills are how she and her clients will succeed. That’s why Lehmann, who has taught as an adjunct instructor for marketing classes offered in Western’s Ancell School of Business, found a way to help prepare the next generation of marketers to better market themselves.

“As I was teaching a marketing class, it occurred to me that the students may not have enough hands-on exposure to Google Analytics, which will be essential to their success once they graduate,” Lehmann said. “With a strong grasp of analytics, they will be better able to craft more effective marketing campaigns and it’s a highly sought-after qualification for marketers.”

Lehmann has attended three Google Analytics courses across the country to elevate her expertise on the subject and wanted to provide Western marketing students the opportunity to witness first-hand what their future careers would involve. When Seattle-based AnalyticsPros scheduled a Google Analytics workshop in the Soho section of Manhattan, Lehmann contacted principal Caleb Whitmore and proposed to have students submit essays about why they wanted to attend the workshop in exchange for a discounted rate for the five whose essays were selected.

WCSU interactive marketing students Taylor Kazlauskas, of Ridgefield; Megan McSherry, of New Milford; Kelly Stendahl, of Newtown; Katie Turcio-Canales, of Danbury; and Ramon Velazquez, of Waterbury; had their essays selected by Lehmann and Whitmore, and earned the rare opportunity to get a glimpse of what their futures will hold when they attended the workshop last semester.

“They were thrown in the pool right away,” Lehmann said. “These certification workshops are attended by professionals who are already working in the field. The Western students got an immediate awareness of what may be involved in their careers if they follow this path.”

The students were unanimous in their assessment that an understanding of Google Analytics will be important to their futures.

“Google Analytics is about monitoring website traffic,” Kazlauskas said. “What I want to pursue has a lot to do with online marketing, whether it be on social media or on websites in general.”

“This course was definitely useful, as now I know there are ways of measuring impact in the virtual world,” said Turcio-Canales, who hopes to go into event marketing.

Velazquez, an entrepreneur, added, “It is imperative for my goals. We can all see how the most successful companies today have close ties to some type of analytical expertise — Google being one of the main players in the information age — and I look to benchmark these types of successful companies in my future.”

McSherry and Stendahl, who both currently intern at job-search engine Indeed.com in Stamford, agreed.

“In my internship, analytics are extremely important,” McSherry said. “When I speak to clients, I need to explain their job analytics to prove they are spending human resources dollars wisely. The session on goal tracking and conversion was very useful because it’s invaluable for a marketer to know exactly the rate of conversion they are receiving through an online campaign.”

Stendahl added, “The business world is vastly changing due to the explosive advances of technology. Analytics provides the business world with a way of tracking and measuring their efforts and then improving their work based on the resulting metrics.”

The grueling daylong workshop concluded with an even more challenging online exam. Those who pass are acknowledged as being certified in Google Analytics.

“I have tried to pass the test after each of the three conferences I attended, and I couldn’t pass,” Lehmann said. “So I’m really impressed to learn that one of the Western students passed on her first try.”

Stendahl, who passed with an 88, said, “From 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., we were being lectured and trained on various Google Analytics tools and terminology, which felt like walking into a foreign language class. There were so many terms and lingo we didn’t know, but we tried our best to catch on quickly. Within the first two hours of the class, I had already taken 25 pages of notes, so you can imagine after all those hours of training how exhausted we were. It was an eye-opener as to how fast the business world is changing and we all felt humbled, yet grateful, for this experience. I know I am a step ahead of everyone else who will be applying for jobs.”

The other students who attended the workshop said they plan to pursue certification.

“Most of the people in the room had prior experience using Google Analytics or similar platforms,” Velazquez said. “As for us, we were literally put in a situation where we had to learn weeks’ worth of materials in a few hours. I definitely plan to take the test again.”

Kazlauskas agreed. “My mind was so drained from trying to absorb everything that we had just learned in class that I couldn’t think of the answers for the test,” he said, adding that he plans to retest in the future.

McSherry, who paused the test, plans to return to it “when I’ve graduated and have more time to study such an extensive product.”

Turcio-Canales said, “I did not pass the exam on my first attempt, but I was proud of myself because I got a 76 on my first try, and this was coming from a person who knew nothing about Google Analytics.” She plans to retake the test this summer after reviewing the information.

Lehmann said her goal of exposing Western students to what may be required of them in a growing and highly demanding field was certainly met by this experience.

“Huge corporations like IBM are betting the farm on analytics and the graduates who come with an understanding of Google Analytics will be sought after and able to expect higher salaries,” Lehmann said. “I’ve had great experiences with Western interns, so why not help train them to have the skills I need as an employer? Plus, everyone loves a badge and a Google badge ain’t bad.”

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