On Nov. 5, Nicolette Pezza participated in the third installation of the “Ask An Alum Series” hosted by Career Services. Pezza is currently a content manager at Revelation, a digital media agency for multiple L’Oréal clients.
Pezza graduated a semester early in January 2018 with a B.A. in communication with a concentration in journalism and public relations (PR). Pezza chose this major because she always had a passion for writing. She said, “When I was a junior in high school, I did an internship with Seventeen Magazine. It was the first thing that made me think, ‘Hey, maybe I could do this for a living.’”
She also completed many internships during her college career with online digital publications like CollegeFashionista, as well as some PR internships.
Pezza was very active on campus during her time at Monmouth. She was a sister of Alpha Xi Delta and a contributor to The Verge and The Outlook. Pezza loved her college experience. She said, “I would go back and do it all over again if I could.”
Some of her favorite memories at Monmouth include meeting her best friend, working at the Office of Student Activities, and recording her original song, “You Feel Like Home” with Joe Rapolla and Blue Hawk Records. “There are too many [memories! The list goes on,” Pezza said.
To prepare for life after Monmouth, Pezza said, “I worked with Career Services and Jeff Mass to connect me with alumni in a similar field, go over my resume, and give me job tips.”
It was Jeff Mass, Assistant Director of Career Services, who reached out to Pezza to participate in the “Ask An Alum Series.”
“When Kristin Waring from Alumni Engagement and I first got together in the summer, we wanted to showcase alumni from various industries each month,” said Mass. “Nicolette (our November Spotlight) has an extensive, impressive background in the beauty industry. She created her own beauty blog and completed multiple internships. She wanted to share how she got her foot in the door with L’Oreal’s Beauty Magazine, and we thought that would be perfect for our program.”
Pezza said, “It was pretty cool to be able to talk to current students and recent alum about my experience especially because it hasn’t been that long since I was in their shoes even though it seems like a lifetime ago. I love giving career advice and helping where I can because I know personally I would’ve appreciated all the help and guidance as an undergrad.”
Although Pezza graduated early, she still had difficulty obtaining a job after college. “Before landing my current job, I applied for easily over 400 jobs,” she said. “It’s not easy and you have to be dedicated and treat applying for jobs like a full-time job.”
Pezza continued, “In March 2018, I landed a full-time contract position with Wedding Wire (now combined with The Knot) as a Content Creator. Then, in July 2018 I landed my first full-time permanent gig, which is where I am now.”
Some advice Pezza gives to students who are searching for their next job or internship is to create their own opportunities. She said, “When I graduated and didn’t have a job, I created my own lifestyle blog. I knew I wanted to go into beauty, but didn’t have any recent published clips in the industry. I didn’t have a big following by any means, but I published consistently and produced clean, polished work. I ended up using some of those blog posts as writing samples that helped land me my current job.”
COVID-19 has not drastically impacted her work life since most of her work can be done remotely, but she still misses going into her office in New York. However, on a personal level, Pezza’s life looks a bit different than it did before March. She said, “Working from home full-time in my small Hoboken apartment isn’t exactly ideal…also, having your life almost put on hold in your 20s is definitely not ideal—I’d love to be traveling and experiencing life to the fullest.”
She continued, “I’m thankful to have my health and my job. COVID-19 has definitely made me appreciate the little things more.”
Pezza has many goals left to accomplish. She said, “I’m still so early in my career, and I’m extremely career driven. Eventually, I would love to go brand-side and climb up the ladder to a Director or VP position.”
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth University
