This Gen Zer's podcast helped him land a job at one of his 'dream' companies — even without the required years of experience. Here's how

Welcome to Keeping the Balance, a newsletter for Gen Z. Subscribe to receive upcoming editions. This week, I spoke to Geno Schellenberger, global communications manager at Havas, about why he started a podcast in college and how it led to an unforeseen job opportunity.

When Geno Schellenberger applied to Havas in the spring of 2022, seven years experience was a job requirement. He only had two.

But Schellenberger had something on his resume that most candidates didn't. He launched an advertising podcast called Breaking and Entering during his senior year at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Since the podcast's inception in April 2020, Schellenberger had recorded over 100 conversations with advertising trailblazers, unlocking countless years of industry knowledge. That gave him an edge — and helped him secure the job.

Schellenberger's path to Havas had a rocky beginning, though.

He entered the workforce in May 2020 with a full-time offer at Edelman, a public relations firm. Like many other pandemic grads, his start date was unknown. Schellenberger decided to make the most of the delay by working on his podcast. The podcast was up and running smoothly by the time he started work at Edelman in February.

Schellenberger spent the following 15 months podcasting on the side while navigating the corporate world. He went from an assistant account executive at Edelman to a community manager at Chicago Portfolio School. Ultimately, he landed at Havas after learning of a job opening from Myra Nussbaum, president of Havas Chicago, during a podcast interview.

I spoke to Schellenberger, who is now a global communications manager,  to learn more about his road to Havas. But before that, we chatted about how he navigated the working world as a pandemic grad and found inspiration for his podcast. Below are excerpts from our conversation (some quotes were slightly edited for length and readability): 

In college, how did you strategize building an advertising career outside of the classroom?

I worked backwards. I figured, to be an assistant account executive at an agency, you're going to need a pretty decent resume. So I plotted out that it's best to be specific and narrow in my approach and strategy by climbing up the ladder of an individual organization. So I picked one [on-campus] organization, the American Advertising Federation or AAF, and I decided I would work my way up solely in that and also try to get internships when I wasn't in school.

While working toward an advertising degree, the pandemic hit during your senior year. Up until this point, what were your post-grad plans? 

Edelman came to campus because they were recruiting for this Immersion Associate Program. I went to a workshop. When I got into the room, I saw this group and they were all taking notes like crazy. I remembered, inside the workshop descriptor it said, 'We will be conducting interviews the next day.' I'm like, 'OK, these people are all nervous because they have interviews the next day and I don't.' I stood back and waited to be the last one to walk out. I was like, 'I have a lot of respect for what you guys do as recruiters. I do that too for my agency. We had to comb through a hundred people.' I told them about the AAF chapter, and they go, 'That's really interesting. You don't have an interview tomorrow, do you?' I go, 'No.' They were like, 'Well, here you go. Here's our card.' So I got the interview and eventually got into the Immersion Associate Program.

Around graduation time, you find out that your start date at Edelman is delayed. At what point did you think about starting a podcast? What was the inspiration behind it?

I called Edelman and they were like, 'We're going to push it, but you're good.' I was sitting in my basement and I was like, 'I don't have to worry about finding a new job, but there are people around me that are struggling.' That's where the podcast came in. They [my peers] were struggling. I was still in limbo, too. Zoom happy hours were a thing. You would go on and have cocktail hour with your aunt. I was like, 'I love doing these informational calls. I've been doing them for so long. It'd be interesting to just hit record.' The [podcast] idea didn't really hit me until the Zoom, and then it all just came together. I was like, 'This is an interesting opportunity to take advantage of to help out people.' 

You eventually started at Edelman, and while navigating the corporate world, you interviewed Havas' Myra Nussbaum on the podcast. How did this conversation lead to a job opportunity?

She called me up after and goes, 'We need a communications professional.' She sent me the job posting and it had seven years of experience. I go, 'I don't have that, but I would love to do it.' She goes, 'Well, you don't need the seven years experience. You've already interviewed Tim Nudd, David Grinder,' who are some big figures within the industry, 'and ad trade publication journalists.' She's like, 'You know these people. We've interviewed others with the experience, and they don't even know the publications.' I didn't even realize what I was doing at the time, but connecting with these people got me this opportunity. Even though I didn't have seven years of experience, I knew the people pretty well.

💭 Join the conversation: How has networking led to unforeseen opportunities in your own career? Share in the comments.

💡 Learn more: See Schellenberger's top tips below on building a brand and network early in your career.

📚 College corner: Tips for career starters 

How to ease pre-interview nerves by Todd Dybas: Pre-interview stress can threaten to derail conversations before they start. Communication expert Richard Newman told Fast Company nerves are normal. He suggested four ways to counter them: check in with your values, box breathing, visualization and using your inner voice. Newman said spending 15 minutes on your top three values can create validation and help with confidence before the interview. Slow-paced box breathing — five seconds in, five-second hold, five-second exhale — can lower your heart rate.  Read more here.

How to avoid job scams by Ilan Goren: Many job seekers might suspect that if a job posting sounds too good to be true it probably is. But often it’s hard to tell the difference between a genuine ad and a scam, especially when hunting for your next job online, Kim Cunningham writes in Welcome to the Jungle. To avoid recruitment scams that might cost you money and your personal details you need to become adept at spotting fake accounts and postings. Read more here.

What to do if your job offer is rescinded by Andrew Seaman: No one likes to think about it happening to them, but job offers are sometimes withdrawn by employers. A rescinded job offer can be the result of budget cuts, corporate restructuring, a poor economy, an issue on your background check, and a variety of other factors. Lori Shreve Blake, who is the senior director of career engagement at the University of Southern California, talked on the latest episode of the Get Hired podcast about what to do when an employer withdraws a job offer. Read more here.

☎️ The 411: What Gen Z is talking about

Should interns be expected to go above and beyond?

"Shark Tank" star Barbara Corcoran was quoted saying, "Always, always do more than you're asked. Whatever your job is do another 50%." This didn't sit well with a lot of people. But college student Morgan Young says Corcoran's advice isn't necessarily "tone-deaf." She writes on LinkedIn that doing more than what's expected doesn't mean overworking. 

"In my five internship experiences, I realized I could 'outperform expectations' by taking the initiative to get myself on as many projects as possible, taking stretch assignments, creating new projects, and engaging in '+1s' like speaking at outreach events and DE&I programming. And it was possible to fit this in a 40-45 hour work-week," Young writes.

See more in Young's post below ⬇️

💡Food for thought: Weigh in on the latest trends

Does talking about finances stress you out? It's not just you.

Just over 50% of Gen Zers say that financial concerns negatively impact their mental health, per a Bankrate survey, with 32% saying financial stress affects them daily. Financial stress — due to high living expenses, pricey college education and more — discourages Gen Z from managing money. As a result, twenty-somethings are struggling to balance everyday expenses with building a savings.

Weigh in: What factors prevent you from focusing on finances? What causes you the most financial stress? Take the poll below ⬇️