Benefits of Client-Based Projects

In the article “College Students as Marketing Consultants: When does it Work?”, Gaumer, Cotleur, and Arnone provide an analysis of applied learning strategies specifically for business education at the college level. However, as I read through the article I felt that the pedagogical techniques could be (and have been) utilized for Professional Writing majors as well.

In my own experiences within Professional Writing classes, and other English classes, I have been expected to participate in client-based projects. Specifically, during my Writing for Multiple Media class I was tasked with developing an online cookbook for a client who works for the Bloomsburg University Foundation. Myself and my teammates received specific instructions to trim down the lengthy recipes into a few minimal steps. We also had to implement a button that took site visitors to a donation page for the foundation. The style, rhetoric, and theme of the website had to be approved by the client or we wouldn’t pass the class; this made it imperative that we kept up our professional communication with the foundation’s representative. In the end, my group and I successfully designed the Huskies Helping Huskies website and got it approved by the University Foundation: Huskies Helping Huskies

Currently, for this Writing in the Professions class, I am required to create documentation for a company that I would like to work for. This could also be considered as a client-based project except that the need and use of this documentation is only theoretical. I can imagine my document being used by this company, but no representative has actually approached me to create such a product. However, in my theoretical proposal to the company it is my job to convince the company that they need me on their team to develop such a document. So in a sense, this project may also be considered client-based. At any rate, in the past I have worked in a group and now I am on my own, which makes for many differences between my past and current projects. For example, because this project is essentially self-guided and I don’t have to rely on other group members to start, I have already began working on the poster I am designing for Penguin Random House. It is a still a work in progress, but this is what I have so far: Penguin Classics.

The other aspect discussed within the article is the marketing perspective that these business students must have to succeed in their client-based projects. I would argue that even as an English major I have to have a particular perspective in mind to be able to market not only the product/document/website I have developed, but also I must know how to market my skill-set and my major to employers.

The article concludes with a few essential factors that make client-based projects successful for students, “selecting appropriate clients, devising attainable expectations, and committing to reading and re-reading students’ work until it meets expectations” (46). I think it’s important to find clients who are in fields relevant to the course and they must be willing to communicate frequently with students. Its also essential that professors, clients, and students agree on end-goals for the project that we attainable; some students carry heavier class-loads, juggle jobs, and some even have families. All of that must be considered before agreeing on the span of the project. I also believe that the professor should take time to check-in on student progress throughout their project so that he/she can see how their work continuously relates to the course objectives.

Overall, I am glad to have past and present experiences working on client-based projects. Whether they were in a group or on my own I feel that they are essential in preparing me for my journey into the professional world.

-Anna J.