From a Project at HSE to a Job Offer: My Experience
In the world of advertising, PR, and marketing, beginners often ask the question: “Where can I get real experience?” Students find themselves stuck in a vicious circle: you need experience to get a job, but you need a job to get experience. HSE offers a powerful solution to this dilemma through its mandatory projects. My personal journey from student to project coordinator at an event agency is clear proof that HSE projects are not just a “checkbox” in the curriculum, but a full-fledged start to a career, shaping competitive advantages even before graduation. And yes, the competitive environment at HSE is not just a backdrop, but a key factor in building resilience, fostering the very stress resistance that employers value so highly.
I remember how, in the second year of the Advertising and Public Relations program, we, still very young students, were given a project that radically changed my perception of studying. The task sounded both exciting and daunting: to develop a promotion strategy and content plan for 3 months for a real music band called GOLOVA . This was not an abstract case study from a textbook, but a real client with their own ambitions, problems, and history. Our team dove into the work. The first and perhaps most valuable stage was direct communication with the artists. We didn't just make guesses, but sat down with the band members to understand their vision. It was important for us to figure out their identity: how they themselves perceive GOLOVA, what their roots, values, and uniqueness are. It wasn't just a collection of facts, but an attempt to capture the soul of the group. We sought to understand their true promotional goals: what do they really want? More concerts? Recognition among young people? A revival of interest among their old audience? Or a complete reboot?
The key question was why they turned to us, students. The musicians admitted frankly that the band had been around for over 20 years. They felt outdated, out of touch with the times. Their music, indie rock, seemed unpopular among today's youth. They didn't follow trends and had no understanding of how the modern music market works or how to promote themselves in the digital age. Most importantly, they wanted to hear fresh perspectives, voices, and suggestions from young people, from us, the students. It was a powerful insight. We were faced not just with a marketing task, but with a deep problem of generational gap and loss of relevance. Our task was transformed: it was necessary not just to promote music, but to help the band find its place in the modern cultural context without changing its essence.
Work began in earnest. We conducted an in-depth analysis: we studied the old and potential new audience, analyzed the competitive environment (other indie bands, current trends), and researched relevant digital platforms (social networks, streaming services). Then came the most difficult part – rethinking the band's identity. How could we “package” 20 years of history and indie spirit into formats that would be understandable and appealing to a new audience? How could we show that “old” could be relevant and cool? We focused on creating a unique pattern in their content. We proposed to make it happen through storytelling about the band's history, showing behind-the-scenes footage and experiments with sound. We didn’t want to erase the band's authenticity by adapting their group to the new trends. The final stage was a detailed content plan: a publication calendar, topics, formats, and promotion channels for the next three months. This project was our first real baptism of fire. We learned not only to apply theory, but also to negotiate with real clients, ask the right questions, analyze their hidden needs and fears, work effectively as a team under tight deadlines, make decisions and take responsibility for them, be creative within real constraints (budget, team resources), and present complex ideas in a clear and convincing way. It was a concentrated experience that is difficult to get anywhere else during your studies.
Fast forward to the middle of my third year it was time to look for an internship or part-time job. I set my sights on the field of events and PR — dynamic, creative, requiring organization and communication skills. In my resume, in addition to previous small internships, I proudly highlighted the “Project Activities” section and described the project for GOLOVA in detail. And then came the long-awaited interview at the event agency. After the standard questions, the interviewer pointed to a line in my resume: “Tell me more about this project with the music group. What exactly did you do?” This was my moment to shine. I didn't just list the facts. I told the story in a structured and enthusiastic way. First of all, I emphasized the reality of the client and their complex problem: an outdated image, a loss of connection with young people, and a complete misunderstanding of the modern market. Then I described the stages of the work in detail: from in-depth analysis of the audience, competitors, and trends, through direct communication with the client (how we identified their true needs and fears), to developing a strategy with a focus on digital and rethinking identity, and creating a detailed content plan. The key point was the emphasis on the professional competencies I had acquired that were directly applicable to the desired position. I talked about my developed communication skills: the ability to communicate with clients, ask the right questions, listen, and negotiate. About analytical thinking: collecting and processing information about the market, audience, and competitors. About a strategic approach: developing a comprehensive action plan to solve a specific business problem. I talked about creativity: finding non-standard solutions to “revitalize” the brand within the constraints. I talked about planning and organization: creating and managing a detailed long-term plan. I talked about the importance of teamwork: collegial decision-making and task distribution. And, of course, I talked about presentation skills: defending the project in front of the client. I concluded my presentation by discussing the feedback received from the group (their interest and willingness to implement some of the ideas) and what I personally gained from the experience: a deep understanding of the importance of empathy toward the client and the ability to work with “non-standard,” emotionally charged requests.
The employer's reaction was not just positive, it was enthusiastic. The HR manager and department head noted the specificity and structure of my presentation, my deep understanding of the client's problem, and my clear understanding of marketing processes and tools. They were particularly impressed by my ability to extract and articulate the experience and skills I had gained, even from a training project, as well as my confident self-presentation. They said outright that they appreciated how I turned a “seemingly insignificant” training project into a powerful, convincing argument for my professional suitability. At that moment, they saw not just a student, but a person who knows how to think, analyze, solve problems, and present the results of their work. That was the deciding factor.
I have now been working as a project coordinator at that same event agency for six months. My responsibilities include interacting with clients and suppliers, developing event concepts, planning budgets and deadlines, and monitoring implementation, all of which require the highest level of responsibility, stress resistance, and the ability to keep many details in mind at the same time. And I constantly catch myself thinking about how the foundation laid at HSE helps me every day. The project approach, honed on tasks such as working with “GOLOVA” — the ability to see the task as a whole, break it down into logical stages, plan resources and deadlines – is the ABCs of my current job. Customer focus, understanding that behind every request, even the strangest one, there is a real, sometimes non-obvious need (such as musicians wanting to connect with young people), helps me find the best, non-standard solutions for event customers. An analytical mind, the ability to quickly understand a completely new topic (whether it is a niche event or the specifics of a client's product) is a skill that is constantly trained at HSE in a wide variety of disciplines and projects. Communication and teamwork because no event is done alone. The ability to negotiate, set clear goals, listen to and hear colleagues, contractors, and clients is critically important, and this is constantly taught in practice at HSE. And finally, stress resistance. This is where the competitive environment at HSE played a key, formative role. Constantly high standards, tight deadlines, the need to be better, to be more efficient, to compete with the strongest classmates, these are not just words, this is our daily reality. This environment does not break you, it strengthens you. You learn to work under pressure, find a way out of the most difficult situations, and not lose your head or concentration when everything is burning and it seems that you will not be able to do anything in time. This skill is absolutely invaluable in the dynamic, unpredictable field of events, where force majeure is the rule rather than the exception. Employers intuitively sense this—they highly value employees who do not panic but calmly seek and find solutions, whose psyche is resistant to emergencies. HSE, through its atmosphere of healthy competition and high standards, trains precisely such specialists.
My story is not an exception, but a pattern for graduates of our program. Through its reality projects, HSE creates a unique educational ecosystem where theory is instantly tested in practice on real, not fictional, cases. This is not an imitation of the work process—it is real work with real clients, real problems, and real responsibility for the result. The main conclusions I can draw for future students, which are also visible to employers, are as follows: HSE projects are real experience. They are not “pretending.” They are full-fledged professional tasks that require the application of knowledge and provide specific, in-demand competencies in return. The key to success in the job market is not just to complete a project, but to realize what skills you have acquired in the process and learn how to talk about them convincingly and in a structured way during interviews. Even the smallest or most educational project can become your trump card if you know how to show its value to an employer. The competitive environment at HSE is not a disadvantage, but a powerful advantage. Strict requirements, high standards, and constant competition among students are a major plus, not a minus. This fosters stress resistance, adaptability, ambition, and the ability to give 100% even in the most difficult conditions — qualities that distinguish HSE graduates in the labor market and are highly valued by employers in all dynamic industries. Finally, employers are looking for people who are thoughtful and proactive. An HSE diploma is already a mark of quality. But even more important is the ability to think critically, analyze information, take responsibility, show initiative, and offer workable solutions.
It is precisely these kinds of specialists — truly talented, seasoned by experience, ready for challenges, and capable of achieving results—that the Higher School of Economics trains through its unique, practice-oriented educational system. My journey from a student project with indie rockers who felt outdated to a project coordinator at a successful event agency is the best proof of this. HSE provides not just knowledge and a diploma, but a ticket to a profession with a wealth of real-world experience and a seasoned character necessary for success.
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