Spotlight on RPA

Every semester, students hope to land the internships of their dreams. Some temporarily move from Norman to Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas or New York City for training and one-of-a-kind experiences. For alumnus and Los Angeles-based advertising executive Jim Helberg (‘83), his pie-in-the-sky goal was to return to Gaylord—despite a busy life on the west coast—to teach.

“Honestly, it was a dream I never thought would happen. I never really thought I could make [teaching] work while living in Los Angeles,” Helberg said.

Helberg joined the Gaylord College Board of Visitors nearly five years ago and was persistently recruited by Debbie Yount to lead an advertising media class. Since Helberg makes frequent trips to Norman for OU football games in the fall, teaching a three-hour course on Friday mornings fit perfectly in his (and his students’) schedule. Now, thanks to technology integration in the classroom, Helberg reaches his students in the springtime via Skype.

The connection between Helberg and Gaylord students establishes a strong pipeline of talent between the college and RPA, L.A.’s largest advertising agency where he works as executive vice president and chief media officer. RPA provides its interns a 360-degree internship experience—“a unique unicorn” agency experience, as described by Helberg—with opportunities to network across all agency operations versus a single area.

One of the greatest elements students gain from internships is hands-on training. Gaylord provides some of the best practical teaching and academics in the country, but the hands-on training is an element that cannot be experienced any other way.

Helberg believes that internships are the best opportunity for students to double check that this is the right career path and it allows them to understand the dynamics of their area(s) of focus while allowing them to build valuable, lasting relationships—an essential part of any career.

“There will be almost 500 applications for an entry-level position at an agency. But having relationships established with people you’ve already worked with creates a streamlined hiring process that leads to a phone call.”

Gaylord senior Bobby Reifsnider, one of Jim’s former students who graduates this December, interned with RPA in L.A. in the summer of 2019. Looking back, the practical application of the content Reifsnider learned in Helberg’s advertising media course laid the necessary groundwork for his RPA internship.

“Jim’s class was a major player in not only preparing me for internships and my future job, but also introducing me to the sector of media in advertising,” Reifsnider said. “At RPA, I learned so much about media negotiations, which is something that I really had not been exposed to prior to my internship. Very few classroom settings can simulate the real, day-to-day aspects of working at an agency and I was so grateful for the time I got to spend learning the processes of setting up a media plan.”

The out-of-town internships also offer students the opportunity to experience new cities and environments in addition to the opportunity to test out company and agency culture before committing to a full-time position.

But for recent Gaylord graduate Sabrina Balboni (’19), she seized the opportunity to interview for a full-time position on Honda’s National Strategy Team instead of an internship following graduation. When Balboni was offered the position, she was confident she’d have the support she needed to take on the role.

“I was nervous about jumping straight out of college into an agency I had never worked for in a city that I had never even been to,” Balboni said. “But the culture and the people at RPA have helped me make the transition from college to the working world incredibly smooth. The people at RPA are so willing and happy to teach you new processes and skills, so I never felt overwhelmed or scared about starting my career here.”

Thanks to the strong relationships between Gaylord College and alumni like Helberg, new pathways are forged to help students find the success that they aim to achieve. We look forward to staying connected to the bright future ahead of Gaylord students—and our alumni.

“When these kids have the opportunity to intern in new cities and environments, it gives the students a chance to test the culture,” Helberg said. “They have so much more confidence when they graduate.”