How JCOM Alumna Betsy Jorgensen Found Success in Corporate Communications

By Eden Fuhriman

JCOM graduate Betsy Jorgensen already experienced a lot in the corporate communications realm during the first eight years of her career.  Along the way, she’s discovered the skill she has in crafting highly-effective communications for senior corporate leadership.   

Jorgensen started at USU as a print journalism major. Despite what she describes as an amazing internship with the Salt Lake Tribune, she left it feeling like journalism wasn’t quite what she wanted. She later pivoted to public relations and graduated in 2014 with a journalism degree, with minors in multimedia and art. 

“I love writing, first and foremost,” Jorgensen says. “But I love the art of communication.” 

Jorgensen’s only traditional PR role was after she graduated. She was a PR & marketing manager at an art gallery. This job did not end up being the great job she was hoping for. “I had a bad experience at my first out-of-college job,” Jorgensen says. “I lasted a year and took the first job I could get away from it.”

Jorgensen got a job at Honeywell as an internal communications specialist. This was where she first learned about the world of internal communications and grew to love it. She hasn’t left the field since. 

She currently works as an executive communications manager at ServiceNow. “A recruiter found me on LinkedIn. That speaks to the importance of having an optimized LinkedIn profile that really showcases what you’re interested in and what you’ve done.”

Although a recruiter came to her, the job wasn’t handed to her right away. She interviewed for four roles at the same company on the same communications team before she got a role. “When they came to me with one more role, I was feeling a little embarrassed,” Jorgensen says. “I was feeling like is this really a good fit if I’ve had to interview for now four roles?”

Despite feeling defeated, Jorgensen went forward with the fourth interview and ended up getting the job. She is the voice of sales executive, Mike Rich, who leads the  Americas sales business for ServiceNow. 

“I’m glad I persevered through the interview process because I landed exactly where I was supposed to,” Jorgensen says. “It’s my job to know and understand both Mike and his business and represent his voice when I’m crafting anything for him. Whether it’s putting together a script, preparing him for a speaking engagement or drafting a simple email message.” 

Jorgensen works with Rich closely to make sure she understands what he’d want to say. “It’s not quite PR but it feels to a degree that you’re doing PR, just internally,” she says. “It’s totally new for me to be the voice of an individual person but it’s exciting and I love it.”

In reflecting on what she enjoys most about her job. “I love that I get to think through things from two perspectives,” she says. “It’s my job to be his voice, sound like him, say what he would say and represent him in a professional way. It’s also my job to think about how this message is going to be received by somebody else.”

In every decision she makes, Jorgensen thinks about both the sender and the receiver. She must make sure messages are clear and believable. If the topic is sensitive, she tries to make it easier to take in. 

Throughout her career, Jorgensen has had the opportunity to craft welcome messages, such as announcing that everyone in the company will get better benefits for their families. On the downside, in past roles, she’s had to write and deliver difficult layoff communications. The daily variety makes her job challenging, but immensely satisfying as well.

When talking with JCOM students, Jorgensen emphasizes the important of networking. 

“Start getting the experience now,” she says. “Don’t wait until after college to have something relevant on your resume. Perhaps just as importantly, reach out to those working in industries you’re curious about and ask for a conversation to learn more about what they do. Create those connections.”

Jorgensen loves connecting with students. Feel free to reach her on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/betsyjorg