Working in Digital: What I Learned in My First Few Weeks of PMG’s Graduate Leadership Program

Most college students I know crafted a mental checklist of what they’re looking for in their first post-grad job, including important elements like ”opportunity,” “growth,” “learning,” and “competitive compensation.” While PMG checked all the boxes for me, finding a company with an incredible culture was an unexpected bonus. 

As a public relations major at Baylor University, my ultimate goal was to land an opportunity in marketing or PR after graduation. Finding a role that helped me enter such a competitive industry was difficult, and admittedly, I wasn’t prepared to leave Baylor just yet. Then, I found PMG and the Graduate Leadership Program (GLP). It’s offered a seamless transition from college to the start of my career in digital marketing, all while showing me how important it is to work at a company that truly values its people. 

From day one, the excitement at the Dallas office was electrifying. Leaders introduced themselves and shared insight into their role and purpose within the organization while proudly boasting about their team chemistry and work dynamic, and shedding light on how the company provides best-in-class service to leading brands. It was clear: People love working here. Now, nearly two months into the GLP, it’s easy to see where their energy and pride come from. 

The transition from college into the workforce offers plenty of learnings, but for me, there are three that have made an outsized impact on my growth and proud to have started my career at PMG.

Every training session and conversation in the GLP ties back to forward thinking and continuous improvement. There’s a clear purpose and objective behind everything that goes on at PMG, and it’s evident in both day-to-day operations and overall company strategy. If there’s a better way to do something, PMGers will find it. The GLP leadership team moves with agility and doesn’t hesitate to adjust the program based on our real-time feedback. I saw this most recently as PMG responded to overall company feedback in the July All-Hands meeting. In short, the “kaizen” mindset is alive and well within the walls of PMG. 

During the various training sessions, PMG’s superpower is brought to life as client teams and media leaders walk us through how agile activation models and PMG’s proprietary marketing technology platform Alli drive results for clients around the world. As we learn more about the ins and outs of the media landscape, agility has become increasingly important as marketers and technologists anticipate and react to the changes occurring at the macro level across audiences, regions, and digital platforms.

One major culture shift transitioning from college to the workplace is the atmosphere. In college, there’s an overtly competitive mindset where everyone wants to be the best and come in first place. At PMG, we’re all on the same team. As a GLP, everyone, from the leaders at the top to alumni of the Graduate Leadership Program, is more than willing to share insight into their job, team, recent learnings, career trajectory, company strategy, or favorite eats in Dallas around the office. Even better, it’s apparent that PMG’s executive team wants us to succeed as we begin our careers at the company. During the first month of the program, we’ve been a part of countless Q&A sessions and happy hours with company leaders and employees, demonstrating the importance of togetherness and teamwork. 

Even within the GLP, the environment is designed so thoughtfully, encouraging us to build community among our peers, rather than competing against them. So far, one of the best parts of the program has been the relationships formed within our GLP small group. The small group settings allowed us to get to know each other better while collaborating on interesting and challenging group projects. As we transition onto teams across PMG, I’m beyond excited to see where my GLP team members land within the organization, knowing I’ll be working with them soon enough on cross-department projects outside the exercises conducted during the program. When you win, the company wins.

It’s an exciting time to work in digital. From Netflix preparing to launch ads to Congress actively drafting legislation on the future of data privacy, digital is constantly evolving, and it’s encouraging to see how PMG is playing an active role in shaping its future with activations across the media landscape. No one knows what tomorrow will look like in this ever-changing industry, but it’s exciting to be at a company that prioritizes agility to get ahead of whatever comes next. 

If you’re a soon-to-be or recent college graduate looking for a company that’s preparing for the future today, be sure to check out PMG’s Graduate Leadership Program! Applications for the next program class open soon.