Alumni Spotlight: Alissa Sisomvang, HAVAS Edge

Eller alumni Alissa Sisomvang '20 (Marketing) works as a Media Planner at HAVAS Edge in Carlsbad, CA.

Tell us about your job responsibilities (day-to-day and/or projects). 

As a Media Planner, I work on the buying side of the tv advertisement industry. I assist my media buyer on buying open tv spots of 15sec-5min advertisements and 30min paid programming spots for our clients. I enter media orders in our system and keep track of our weekly scheduled media with tv stations to make sure the correct creatives and rates we booked are airing correctly. I also work with our client services team to stay up to date on any campaigns we’re running.

Why did you choose to work for your company?  

I chose to work at HAVAS Edge because it seemed like a great place for me to grow my career in the marketing industry. HAVAS edge is a full service direct response agency, driven by performance and results. It was close to home, which is where I wanted to move back to after college and the work culture was a great fit for me. 

Please share what led you to your current job/company (past experiences, networking, classes, multiple rounds of interviews, or anything you deem relevant). 

As I was close to graduating college, I met with my career coach Marisa Allen to discuss marketing career opportunities in my hometown of San Diego. She connected me with a U of A alumni who works at HAVAS Edge and we set up a phone call to get to know each other. Months later after I graduated, I applied to as many positions as I saw open and went through multiple rounds of interview. It really helped that I formed that alumni connection so I knew a lot about the culture and work of the company which paid off in my interviews. I started off as a Media Processing Coordinator doing invoicing and after a year I got promoted to join the Media Buying department as a Media Planner. 

What advice do you have for Eller students seeking a similar career path? 

 Be open to opportunities, dedicate time to any internships and extracurriculars you can take on, learn as much as you can and ask lots of questions. Research and practice for interviews, Work with a career coach, they have been the greatest resource for me during my time at Eller. For any companies you are interested working for, use LinkedIn to see if there are any alumni who work there and try to connect and network with them. 

Please share an Eller memory:  

My favorite Eller memory was being a part of MKTG 297, a marketing careers elective class and going on our class trip to New York City together in 2018. We visited 10 companies, one of which was the New York office of the company I am currently working for now. It was so fun running around New York with my classmates and learning so much about the companies we visited and their NYC work culture.