Texas Showcase -- Jia Zheng

What brought you to the University of Texas for graduate school?

My “life-is-too-exciting-to-settle-yourself-down-in-one-place”personality. My “working-for-the-best-agency-in-the-world” aspiration. My “I’ve-been-learning-English-for-so-many-years-and-I-wouldn’t-have-any-trouble-with-studying-in-the-States” overconfidence and misconception. And the fact (or you can call it a stroke of luck) that one of the top 3 advertising program in the states accepted me.

Can you tell us about your background?

I was born and raised in Shanghai, a beautiful, high-pressured, full-of-amazing & cheap-food, city in China. Like everyone else would put on the end of their resume, I am a coffee junkie and travel-lover. Unlike most everyone else would put on their resume, I’ve been learning advertising for over 6 years and have worked in every position you can find in an advertising agency except copywriter.

Can you tell us about some of your experiences here (and abroad)?

I came to UT about a year and a half ago for my Masters in Advertising. I picked the account planning track and still believe it’s the second best choice I’ve ever made in my life followed by my decision not to become a vegetarian when I was 6. Over the course I have had some great internship experiences, which includes a great Hispanic agency, Latinworks, a cute B2B agency, SicolaMartin (Y&R brands), who I am still working for right now, and DDB worldwide.

What are your plans for the future?

Again, my “life-is-too-exciting-to-settle-yourself-down-in-one-place” personality shouted out. After I graduate this May, assuming I don’t make mistakes on formatting the reference list of my thesis fail because of that, and if professor Dr. Burns is nice enough to decide to let me leave school), I would work as a planner in an agency in NYC. Also assuming that 50% out of 4,000 advertising graduate students this year want to work in this one of the best cities in the world, that 30% of them are interested in planning, 50% of those full-of-passion & energetic potential planners are good enough to get an interview from one of those top agencies, and only 20% of them will get a job, and then finally I successfully beat other 240 candidates.

Britain has a very interesting industry culture, BBH is also one of my favorite agencies, and I would love to work for them in the future in their London office.All right, I also have to admit that I just love London as a city and am completely convinced that having that “make-you-5%-smarter-British-accent” is awesome.

What advice can you give to other people considering the program?

Be prepared, innovative, fearless, and also have fun!