LINDSAY KELLER: The Google
Online Marketing Challenge
was the most
rewarding experience
of my academic career.
My team and I won the America's
Regional Business Award
my senior year at James
Madison University.
DR. THERESA B. CLARKE: Lindsay
and her team were just amazing.
They were professional.
They worked hard.
And they developed
a campaign that
met the client's objectives.
LAUREN HALE: Dr.
Clarke had brought up
Lindsay on a few
instances, talking
about how successful she
and her team had been
and how she had gone
off to work for Google
and how the challenge
had prepared her.
And I think that
she's definitely
kind of a poster child
for success and for what
can happen if you take
the challenge seriously
and you know what
you want out of it.
PIOTR HELLIG: The Google
Online Marketing Challenge
is an international competition
for students and academics,
which annually
attracts participants
from over 1,000 universities
and nearly 100 countries.
Students get to
select a business
or a nonprofit organization
in their local community
or anywhere in the world.
And they create an online
advertising campaign for them,
using Google
AdWords and Google+.
DR. THERESA B.
CLARKE: Students get
to run an AdWords campaign
for a real client using
an actual budget over
a three-week period.
PIOTR HELLIG: It's a contest,
but it gives an opportunity
to build up a skill set
through hands-on experience.
LINDSAY KELLER: We worked
with a local business that
sold customizable
promotional products.
The company had never had a
single online sale before.
And after running an AdWords
campaign for just three weeks,
that was no longer the case.
LAUREN HALE: I learned a
lot about understanding
how to use AdWords
and how to capitalize
on different campaigns
that we wanted to use.
And employers are
looking for students
that have that experience.
DR. JERRY BENSON: Based on the
performance of our students
and the recognition through
the Google Challenge,
we've had more and more
recruiters coming to campus.
And it's specifically
because they
know our students are getting
these kinds of experiences
here at the university.
LINDSAY KELLER: I
was able to leverage
the skill set that I
developed while participating
in the challenge to get a
job in the online advertising
industry.
Ultimately, it led
to a job at Google,
where I'm currently an
Account Strategist helping
small to medium-sized
businesses.
If I didn't do the
challenge, I think
it would be a lot
harder to stand out
from everyone else in applying
for jobs after school.
In interviews, you
can always talk
about what you've
learned in a class.
Because I had that kind of
experience on my resume,
I think that helped me
really stand out and get
the job that I have today.
