ASU's marketing students to assist
with promoting careers in FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is sponsoring a hands-on industry-education course in which marketing students from 23 schools around the country will participate to promote awareness of FBI Special Agent and Professional Support career opportunities to their peers with specific critical skills or fluency in specific languages.

This fall semester, 35 students in Dr. Melodie Philhours’ advertising class at ASU are being given a rare opportunity to put their education to work in the real world. Over the next eight weeks, these students will create a working marketing agency and will be responsible for researching, implementing, and evaluating an integrated marketing campaign for their client, the FBI. The students will promote specific career opportunities within the FBI such as Special Agent and Professional Support positions. Critical skills for the special agent position are: engineering, computer science/information technology, fluency in a foreign language, intelligence experience, law experience, law enforcement, or military experience.

These advertising students are very positive about the experience. “I am really excited about this opportunity,” says Marshall Robertson, senior public relations major from Pocahontas. “I am going to get significant experience that will look great on a resume as well as getting a once-in-a-lifetime chance to actually work with the FBI.”

After organizing their agency and researching their target market, the students will spend the first half of the semester formulating their marketing strategy recommendations and campaign ideas. They will have the opportunity to design an integrated marketing campaign (IMC) aimed at increasing awareness for the FBI and their recruiting needs. After presenting their concept to the FBI they will execute their campaign as well as track and analyze its results. The students will be given a $2,500 budget to help them bring their plans to life. The program culminates in a formal agency-style presentation by the students to dignitaries and representatives of the FBI. The presentation is a unique opportunity for students to develop public speaking and presentation skills, in addition to building self-confidence.

The FBI Collegiate Marketing and Recruitment Program effectively bridges the gap between industry and education; providing students with hands-on, experiential learning necessary to find employment and a business partnership with an organization that offers several career options.

This partnership of students and professionals is part of an industry-education program sponsored by the FBI known as the FBI Collegiate Marketing and Recruitment Program. EdVenture Partners, an education marketing company based in Berkley, California, serves as liaison between the class and the FBI. Having designed unique industry-education partnerships at more than 380 campuses across the United States, EdVenture Partners, in conjunction with the FBI, provides each student with ongoing resources, guidance, and a project budget to implement their marketing campaign.

More information about the FBI Collegiate Marketing and Recruitment Program will be announced in the future.

CONTACT: Dr. Melodie Philhours, Andrea Riley, Karen Barker
870-972-3430
mphil@astate.edu