Alumni in Action
Alumni Spotlight: Annie Cunningham
Describe your current position
As a Content Marketing Writer at Central Michigan University, I write and revise copy used in the external marketing for the university. An average week includes moving a variety of projects through the concepting, development, design, revision, and publication process with the writing, design, and digital teams.
To what extent does writing relate to your current position? What type of writing/design do you do for work?
I’m part of a team that writes for a wide range of digital and printed content, everything from social media ads and storyboarding for commercials to the banners and murals you see when walking around campus.
Briefly describe your path from graduation at GVSU to your current position.
I completed my bachelor’s degree during the beginning of the pandemic, and taught myself transcription while applying and interviewing for jobs online. When the working world started to open, I left transcription. I earned two certificates through HubSpot Academy to better orient my skills to the types of jobs I’d been seeing, and continued searching. After nearly two years of virtual interviews, I had an in-person interview for my current position.
What parts of the writing major had the strongest impact on you as a professional?
Workshopping content for specific aims at different stages of the process helped me develop strong skills for providing, receiving, and acting on feedback. Being able to dive deeply into a workshopping headspace at a moment’s notice, for a wide variety of content, has helped me contribute in meaningful ways and learn more about content creation. Print design, web design, creative writing, instructional writing, business writing, web writing — every workday draws from knowledge I gained through workshopping content in my classes.
What advice would you offer to current/future writing majors at Grand Valley?
Plan your courses strategically — try things that will make your skillset more well-rounded. In college, I intentionally strengthened the skills I enjoyed working on and had a genuine interest in. After college, I found that many entry-level positions were asking for the skills in my field that I had planned around because they were of less interest to me. Power through the courses that will help you stretch your skills. There is a good chance it’ll lead you to opportunities that will help you get you where you want to be.
Also, take advantage of the extracurriculars on campus! Being an active member of a group will give you a chance to build on skills you’ll take with you everywhere.
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