As second-semester senior year crept in, the question “What are you doing post-grad?” became impossible to escape. I graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in business marketing — my background was in traditional consumer PR and in-house beauty marketing.
As much as I loved it, I knew I was ready for something different. I wanted to be somewhere fast-paced and cross-functional, working across different clients and challenges every day.
Hoffman wasn’t exactly an obvious choice for me.
I had no tech background, and when I first came across the internship, my gut reaction was honestly to keep scrolling. But something made me look closer. What stood out was how Hoffman transforms these granular, niche tech topics into stories that are compelling, digestible, and educational.
Then I stumbled upon the “What’s Happening” blog — the exact page you’re reading right now. Hearing honest stories from Hoffman’s team members about their own journeys resonated with me. It made me realize they were once in my shoes, also trying to navigate a new chapter. I had been limiting myself by measuring where I’d been rather than where I was willing to go.
After applying, I messaged a few people on the team and heard back quickly. Every conversation I had made me want the internship more. People weren’t just being polite about their jobs. They genuinely loved it here, and it showed.
One phrase that kept coming up was “geeks at heart,” and I loved that, as it speaks to the agency’s thoughtfulness about its work but also its openness. Whether you’re passionate about cooking, “Star Wars” or semiconductors, that enthusiasm is genuinely welcomed.
I spent most of college playing it safe, falling into opportunities that felt familiar and close to home. I grew up in California and went to college there, so when I got the internship offer and the chance came to move across the country to Hoffman’s Boston office, I took it.
It felt like exactly the push I needed.
The learning curve has been real too. Coming from a non-tech background, I have a lot to absorb: new vocabulary, new clients and new ways of thinking about storytelling. I braced myself for that small fish in a big pond feeling. But Hoffman has made the transition far more seamless than I expected.
Whether it is a 1:1 meeting with team members to work through a task, coworkers helping me figure out which train to take for my commute home, or getting the inside scoop on the best lunch spots near the office, the support has been real and constant.
Since day one, Hoffman has been the kind of place where people look out for each other and genuinely invest in each other’s success.
Now, when someone asks what I’m doing post-grad, I don’t dread it anymore — I look forward to the question, because it means I get to talk about Hoffman.
