Isabella Beristain
Isabella returned to UC Davis, after graduating in 2022, as Enrollment Management’s communications specialist. She works closely with the UC Davis Undergraduate Admissions team and partners to grow our community. As one of the team’s writers, she leverages her knowledge of UC Davis best brand practices to communicate our story effectively and creatively to various external audiences. Isabella has worked in marketing and communications for more than 5 years and has writing experience in development, internal communications and journalism. Before joining the Enrollment Management, Isabella worked at Centro Legal de la Raza as their communications specialist, where she helped expand, retain and update their donor network.
From Isabella, you’ll learn how to build a writing portfolio, industry trends, class recommendations, and helpful writing tips!
Why did you decide to be a Professional Writing minor?
I have always enjoyed writing, and I chose majors that were very writing-heavy, so I wanted a minor that matched my passions. At the same time, I was interning with the Finance, Operations and Administration (FOA) at UC Davis, and I really liked it! When I saw the Professional Writing minor in the UC Davis catalog, it really stuck out to me. The minor fit well with my goals, and I could even use my work at FOA to fulfil the internship requirement. I also thought it was interesting that the minor taught you how to apply writing to different fields, and so I wanted to try it out.
Was there a specific project or experience in the Professional Writing minor that impacted you?
I also did another internship with the UC Davis Development Office on campus and learned so much about writing for grants and fundraising. I was super interested in learning how to write and edit for the marketing industry. The skills I learned from my internship were great, and it was basically marketing writing under a different subcategory. My first job after college ended up being in the development industry, so that internship with the UC Davis Development Office was super helpful.
Also, in some interviews, you may have to take a very short writing exam. For example, when I’ve interviewed candidates for writing-based internships, I’ve asked them to write something for a specific audience. The purpose of these exams is to help interviewers understand the candidate’s writing process and style. Having internships and writing experiences really helped me be prepared for those interviews.
Do you use skills from the Professional Writing Minor as a Communications Specialist?
Yes, my minor classes were great, and I apply the skills I learned daily. Two experiences I really loved were the intro to journalism class with Stephen Magagnini (UWP 104C) and the editing class with Dr. Rebekka Andersen (UWP 112A). A lot of my college experience was during COVID, but those professors made the classes so engaging.
For the journalism class, I read this book called the Associated Press Guide to Newswriting. Part of my job as a Communications Specialist is to write news articles, and I use that style guide all the time. Just having learned that helped me a ton. I also learned how to write a lede, which is an attention-catching opening sentence, and craft compelling news stories. That class helped me develop my writing style and be successful in my career.
The professional editing class was also really useful. Honestly, Dr. Andersen made the class so interesting, and I learned so much about grammar, syntax, and editing. A good writer focuses on the details, down to individual word choices. When I write, I think about how my story flows and the audience I am trying to write for. Especially for marketing writing, you’re creating a lot of short-form pieces. Sometimes you only have five or ten words to get your point across and make people notice it. For the editing class, we did a project where we edited a piece of writing, and I did a Mailchimp Briefing Manual. It was such a good experience that helped me develop those skills.
How do you build a writing portfolio, and do you have recommendations about how to help clients?
One thing that helped me get my first job, and other jobs after, was having portfolio pieces I could talk about. In interviews or applications, it’s very common for them to ask for writing samples. When you make a portfolio, it’s totally fine if the samples are on a different topic from the job description; just explain the thought process behind each sample and the skills it demonstrates. For example, when I applied for a job in marketing, I still used samples from my development internship because they showed my organizational skills and knowledge of internal communication. A strong candidate uses their portfolio to show their thought process because those analytical skills are extremely valuable to employers. Also, your portfolio can come in many forms, but I made a WIX website for mine. It had three sections: a home page, an about me section, and a section for my work. The work section included my resume and projects I was proud of, like the Mailchimp Briefing Manual from the professional editing class. Also, to show my editing process, I put the original copy for one or two pieces and explained what I changed.
Then, when you get a job and work with clients, it’s important that you can explain the editing choices you made. Just like how you explained your portfolio pieces to an employer, you should remember to explain your process to your clients. There may be times when a client has questions about your edits or wants to know how your writing choices contributed to their goals. Doing that requires a lot of reasoning and understanding how words go together at a base level. When you know that, you can better collaborate with your clients.
What advice do you have for current students?
In the four years since I graduated from college, AI has grown by leaps and bounds. I know AI is here, and it’s not going to go away. It’s led to a fear that there won’t be a need for writing or editing professions anymore. The thing is, you still need to plug things into AI, and what it makes rarely meets the end goal. The projects I work on have so many steps, and there is also a whole strategy angle that goes into them. All of this is to say that taking these classes and knowing how to analyze work is valuable. There will always be a need for people to create new pieces, think strategically and provide that unique human touch.