How the MDP Helped Hilary Jumpstart Her Career and Prepare for Her Future at Dell Technologies

Hilary B. | Global Creative Lead for Dell.com | Boston, MA

Originally Published: March 31, 2023

The Marketing Development Program is designed to attract and retain top talent from Colleges, Universities, Community Colleges, and Vocational Programs, as well as Diversity & Inclusion conferences to build the marketing talent pipeline. Program members experience four 6-month rotations with different marketing teams, gaining valuable hands-on experience and exposure to various marketing disciplines. Members also get access to exclusive trainings, career coaching, executive exposure, and networking opportunities to help accelerate their success at Dell. Hilary, a MDP 2022 graduate, reflects on her time in the program and how it has helped shape her career.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your current role? My name is Hilary, and I am a 2022 Marketing Development Program graduate now working as a Global Creative Lead for Dell.com. My career in marketing started back when I worked for the Director of Marketing at UMass Amherst. From my freshman to senior year, I helped with all aspects of university marketing including creating videos for football games, making flyers, and taking photos at various campus events. Now, at a huge corporation, I am doing the same type of work with a new focus on strategizing and creative directing. I graduated from UMass Amherst in 2020 with a BBA in marketing and a minor in psychology.

I am grateful I was able to continue my love for marketing with the help of the MDP. During my time in the program, I had two great roles: Social Media Manager for Dell Tech World on the Event Acquisitions Team and Executive Social Influence Manager in Field and Partner Marketing. After graduating from the MDP, I am now the Global Creative Lead for dell.com, focusing on both the content and strategy for OptiPlex desktops and Cloud Client Space Workplace. I work closely with Dell Blue, our internal agency, to review content and then send it to the digital team to code it into dell.com so it is available in regions worldwide.  

Some of my passions include creativity, innovation, and building things from the ground up. From a psychological standpoint, you could have the best brand, product, and ads, but all of that will mean nothing if you lack the ability to connect with consumers and form a relationship. At the intersection of this, is what I am passionate about. I love content creation, strategy, and interpersonal connections. I always keep in mind, what is the story we are we trying to tell and how can we show it to the world in a digestible way. I am proud to say I get to exercise my passion in my current role!

What have you been most proud of during your career at Dell Technologies? I am most proud of how I was able to touch so many parts of the business and drive impact in such a short time, thanks to the exposure and support of the MDP. During my first MDP role as the Social Media Manager for Dell Tech World, COVID was skyrocketing, and social media was more important than ever before. I was thrown into the deep end just weeks before the most important Dell event of the year, and I was able to increase event registrations linked to social content by 200% compared to the previous year. In this role, I was able to tell the stories I wanted to tell to acquire an audience, learn about content, and drive impact. For my second MDP rotation as an Executive Social Influence Manager, I was responsible for helping executives with their online brand presence. I took my expertise from my first rotation and used it as the building blocks for this role. I had the opportunity to create a brand-new social media program from scratch, and it proved to be successful! When building this new program, I worked with budget, content, and choosing which agencies to work with, overall enhancing my skillset and preparing me for my future outside of the program.

Reflecting on your time in the MDP, what was your favorite part of the program?

My favorite part of the MDP was hands-down the community, which was such a built-in part of the program. When I graduated from the program, I was nominated to give a graduation speech. I talked about how I was so grateful to come into such a large company with a cohort, all of whom were at the same stage of life, their career, and the program. We were doing it all together! I couldn’t imagine joining a large, mostly remote company without a cohort. The incredible group of individuals, who made up my cohort and the MDP leaders, were my go-to people to ask those silly questions that I was too embarrassed to ask others. All in all, having this community and cohort was an invaluable experience to have so early in my career.

How has the MDP continued to assist your ongoing development and career growth after graduating from the program? The most influential way the MDP has helped me post-program was by helping me when I was in the program. Since I had two years in the program to ask all my questions and receive the support I needed, I am now confident and prepared in any situation I encounter in my daily work life. In the program, some of the many learning opportunities included improving networking skills and discovering best practices for interviewing for new rotation roles, and I was encouraged to ask questions throughout the entire journey. Learning these skills as a young professional before being thrown into a huge company was beneficial in the real world post-MDP.

What advice would you give potential candidates considering joining the MDP?

The biggest piece of advice I always give is to “be yourself”. At the stage of your life when you are a senior in college looking for a job, there are so many voices coming in telling you how to act. People tell you how to dress, act, what to wear in interviews, and what a resume should look like. Sometimes when you first start a career, it can seem like you are playing dress up. However, you need to understand you don’t need to play the part, but rather you should be the part! You must know who you are: know your strengths, know how you want to improve, and of course advocate for yourself. Doing all of this will not only prepare you for the program but opportunities in general. The MDP leaders want to know your interests and where to place you in future rotations, so knowing your authentic self will set you up for success.

Second, see each MDP rotation as a learning opportunity and have an open mind. You may find out you absolutely love a role you didn’t originally expect to like. Or you may go into a role thinking you’ll like it, only to discover it isn’t for you. Keep in mind, there is a silver lining to learning about what you don’t like – it is just as valuable as a learning experience as learning what you do like.

Third, if you ever feel like a small fish in a big pond, don’t let someone’s “high status” in the company scare you. In these instances, it is crucial to recognize that we are all people. If you want to reach out to someone, go for it!  

Outside of work, what do you enjoy doing? I embody creativity and most types of arts in my life outside of work whether it be painting, photography and videography, or journaling. A fun fact is that I published a poetry book when I was 18 – it was just a passion project that snowballed! I also love to hike and spend time with the people I care about including my friends, boyfriend, and family. There is so much to experience in life, and I seize every opportunity there is to try new foods, travel, and experience the outdoors.

To learn more about graduate programs at Dell and life at Dell, visit  jobs.dell.com/graduates and our stories.