Karen Hornberger (IMC05)

Senior Communications Manager at Allstate Insurance Company

The IMC program helped me in my career in many ways. With the variety of classes offered, I walked away with a solid background in all areas of marketing communications. This allowed me to work initially at an agency and then smoothly transition to the corporate side without missing a beat. The classroom experience was also very “real world.” The content was covered in a relatable way so that I could apply what I was learning to my day to day experiences.

The skills I took away from the IMC program that helped my career most are time management, team work and collaboration. So much of my work in marketing communications at Allstate involves working cross-functionally within the organization to bring together diverse groups to achieve common goals. Having the experience of working in groups on class projects at Medill helped me hone those skills.

The topics we discussed were relevant to what each of us was going through every day at the office. This allowed me to apply what we were learning in the evenings to my daily work throughout the program and gave me an edge in meetings with my clients and corporate leaders.