I recently took a group of talented Lasell University Students to Trivium Interactive: a creative agency that designs immersive experiences for museums, public spaces, and brands. It wasn’t for a panel or for recruiting, the purpose of the field trip was to take a real look at how creative professionals work. 

My students wanted to know: 

• “How did you land here?” 
• “How do different parts of communications—strategy, design, writing—intersect day to day?”
• And most importantly…. “What do your clients actually expect?”

Trivium’s team was generous and honest. They walked us through the project lifecycle and shared how creative ideas answer bigger goals. They made it clear: serving clients is how the work moves forward. That’s not the sexy part, but it’s the real part—and the students got it. 

That said, what stood out to me most from our time at Trivium was the shared space between my students and Trivium’s team. My Gen Z students offered insight on audience behavior and the agency pros were translating that energy into what it takes to thrive in a professional space. This kind of mutual exchange doesn’t happen enough, but when it does, it’s powerful. This exchange also gets close to answering an important question: how do agencies leverage the power of Gen Z before they hit the workforce?

Higher education often invites professionals to speak, but it’s not always a two-way street. Some agencies have gotten into the habit of treating students like audience research labs—asking what Gen Z thinks but not investing in helping them grow. This is a missed opportunity. Collaboration yields growth.

Students are hungry for real-world experience, but they also want meaning, autonomy, and creative ownership. That’s hard to deliver in a classroom, and truthfully, not always best coming from faculty, even if we have a lot of industry experience!

There’s something different about hearing how the communications industry works from someone in the thick of a client retainer or sprinting toward a launch or issuing an embargoed release. 

Conversely, agencies want new voices but often struggle to find entry-level talent who understands client demands or how to work cross-functionally. But here’s the truth: we’re not that far apart. It just takes a little more effort to meet in the middle.

We must stop pretending skills fit into single course titles. Today’s students think across tools and disciplines; they might shoot video, analyze campaign data, write copy, and manage social media in the same afternoon. But they’re also concerned about what’s “marketable.” We need to help them see that yes, hard skills matter, but the real value that comes with practice, is in knowing how those skills serve strategy.

Students don’t need polish —they need access. Through this experience, I suggest inciting young talent into the work early. Let them see the messy parts. Be clear about the work, the growth, and most importantly, the expectations. 

We can’t ignore the shift in how students see their careers. As this Forbes article points out, Gen Z is leaning into the creator economy. They’re building brands, monetizing side projects, and chasing autonomy. To them, creative work looks like freedom. If we want them to stay in agency environments, we must show how structure, clients, and collaboration can coexist with their industry ideals.

Here’s what agencies and higher education can do to help better understand how to capture Gen Z talent: 

• Invite students into agency spaces regularly—not just for tours, but conversations.
• Build projects that mirror real-world complexity across writing, design, and strategy.
• Encourage mentorship that goes beyond the internship timeline.
• Acknowledge that Gen Z brings new tools and perspectives worth listening to.

Maybe this is the moment where we stop thinking of higher ed as a place that prepares communications students for industry but rather embeds it into its ethos. When students are brought into work early and when agencies treat education as part of the talent pipeline, we build more than careers, we build confidence and collaboration.

This blog was written by Kristina Markos, PR Club Board Member