Success story: The New York Post welcomes Alice O’Brien

Areas of Study , Marketing Success Stories | Apr 18, 2012 | Nicole Gesualdo

Putting the marketing half of her dual concentration into action, Alice O’Brien (GSB ’12) will join the New York Post’s advertising sales staff after graduation, starting in June as an account coordinator selling both newspaper and digital advertising.

Alice’s position proves that while people sometimes think of print advertising as a diminishing field, there actually huge opportunities with media companies that are thinking ahead and working flexibly with new technologies.

“The Post is keeping up with the digital revolution by making their brands available on all digital platforms with apps,” Alice said. Her role will involve selling advertisements formatted for the iPad, iPhone, Android devices, browser-based and mobile web sites, and tablets — in addition to ads for the traditional print pages.

Alice will have the chance to court some big names, too. Her position at the Post is part of a progressive training program, in which more senior account managers will be her mentors. She eventually will take the reins on multi-million-dollar accounts and be asked to pursue new leads and clients. She pointed out that Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase and JetBlue are already in the Post’s stable.

Four years at Gabelli and some key internships helped Alice to figure out this was the path for her. When she was a junior, she thought finance might be in her future, so she pursued a finance concentration in addition to her business administration major, even landing an internship at Merrill Lynch in wealth management.

“However, at the end of the day, I wasn’t passionate about it,” Alice recalled.

She changed her strategy, adding a concentration in marketing, and tried an internship last summer in PepsiCo’s Sales Management Program. That did it.

“When it came to applying for a full-time job, all I could think about was how much I loved my internship in sales because I was in charge of my own performance,” Alice said. “I also realized sales was for me because I love setting goals, and there is something about selling that makes you feel accomplished.”

We at Gabelli wish Alice a long and wonderful career filled with precisely that feeling of satisfaction. Congratulations, Alice!