Meet our Alumni: Andrew Miller, Class of 2011

If Andrew Miller could give future communications students one piece of advice when it comes to shaping their careers, it would be this: “Try not to limit yourself in terms of what you apply for. You never know what opportunities will present themselves once you’ve started working on something.”

The 2011 corporate communications and PR (CCPR) grad speaks from experience. After completing the in-class portion of Centennial’s CCPR program, Miller, who originally wanted to get into sports communications, did his field placement in the communications branch of the Ministry of Transportation (MTO). He continues to work at MTO full-time on a team working on the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games.

“I didn’t have much interest in transportation when I went to MTO,” said Miller. “It was the first (field placement) I interviewed for. The vibe was really good with the managers who interviewed me and I just thought government would be a good opportunity to get my feet wet and actually jump right in and do a lot of work.” Miller loves his job and credits Centennial’s guaranteed field placement as his “foot in the door” to a communications career. “I kind of found my way into sports anyway,” laughs Miller. “(The field placement) was definitely my start at MTO and pretty much the reason why I got my job.”

After graduating with a degree in history from Queen’s University, Miller completed a one-year ESL teaching gig in Korea. He pursued PR after some career soul searching. Miller figured out a communications job would let him work on projects that he was really passionate about and write and plan strategically.

Miller considered several GTA-based PR programs, but chose Centennial for much the same reason he eventually chose his internship. “I just got a really good vibe from the school,” said Miller. “I felt it would be a place I could fit in, feel relaxed and do a lot of work. Also, (the campus) was close to me and the program was very career-focused. You know when you get a sense that a place is for you. I felt that with Centennial.”

Miller also learnt skills across the board that made him workplace ready upon graduation. “The writing courses in both semesters were great and by far, the most important. When you work in comms, you are going to be writing 90 per cent of the time,” said Miller. “I came out of my undergrad with an arts degree, knowing how to write for academia. Of course, that writing style isn’t really what you want in the real world. You take (Centennial’s writing) course and it’s kind of a wake-up call,” said Miller, who still keeps in touch with a few of his 2011 classmates.

“It’s interesting to see where everyone ends up because there are so many career directions. The goal of this program is to get a job.”

by Antoinette Sarpong