Career Spotlight: Promotions Designer

If you crave creative challenge, thrive on excitement, and like the thought of being paid for your innovative ideas, then you should try on the Promotions Designer hat for size. Like most other creativity-driven careers, being a Promotions Designer is demanding yet fulfilling, taxing but rewarding. To help you get a better picture of what it's like to be a Promotions Designer, we asked to spend a day on the job with Las Vegas-based Rosann C.

Busy Biz

Rosann's workday begins at eight a.m. She fires up her e-mail to check if there's anything urgent that needs attention, and review the three items that top her to-do list. First in line is a brainstorming session with the VP of Creatives, two graphic designers and the sales team. As the company's Promotional Designer, Rosann is responsible for developing new marketing promos for various Las Vegas establishments. Originally hired as an Administrative Assistant, Rosann's enthusiasm, positive energy and team attitude soon earned her a lateral promotion. "The responsibilities, expectations, and duties are very much the same, but now I also enjoy the fulfillment of having creative projects, " says Rosann, "Still, because we are a small team, it doesn't really matter who or what you are - you have to multi-task."

With a few minutes to kill before the brainstorming session, Rosann now tidies up the work area, sorts the department's mail, and gets the coffeemaker started. She also starts bouncing around some promotional ideas in her head while helping out with the phones. "It's really busy, but I'm not complaining," admits the Canadian native, who moved to Las Vegas, NV late last year and got hired by her present company, a firm that specializes in designing and building unique slot machines, within a month. Now past the half-year mark, Rosann enjoys her job more than ever.

This and That

"It can be tough - there are always administrative tasks to take care of, phones to answer, e-mails to respond to, things to pick and tidy up. On top of all this are the creative aspects of my job, which include helping conceptualizing promos, attending photo shoots, writing promotional text, placing ads in various publications. You have to be able to think on your feet, and fast! But that's what makes every day something to loom forward to - it's never easy, but it's never boring, either."

Her Lucky Break

One reason for Rosann's unflagging enthusiasm is the fact that everything that she is doing now fit perfectly with her long-term career goals. "I plan to someday work in an ad agency or a big marketing firm," she states. "But right now, I am busy gaining valuable work and life experiences, and lots of them - it's like getting paid to learn the ropes!" Rosann also says she feels very fortunate to have met her supervisor, the VP of Creatives, who turned out to be a supportive mentor who exposes her to as much of the creative process as possible.

Altitude vs. Attitude

"I wasn't expecting it to turn out this well when I first accepted the offer for the Admin Assistant position, but I was still really excited and looked forward to learning and adding this experience to my resume. Now I am really happy I showed up with that level of enthusiasm. It's really not the altitude of the opportunity - it's your attitude toward it."

Rosann first heard of AppleOne in Canada, where the company is known for delivering career results. Upon moving to Las Vegas, Rosann went to the AppleOne Web site and submitted her initial application via AppleXpress. She was contacted by AppleOne Las Vegas I's Account Executive, Yvette DeZalia, the next day and then was interviewed and entered into AppleOne's system the day after that. Seeing Rosann's enormous potential, Yvette and AppleOne made it a point to keep her eyes open for Marketing or Advertising-related opportunities. She also made sure to provide Rosann with background information about the company that was about to interview her, and give timely and constructive feedback after each of the series of interviews.