Caleb Nyberg: Ad Exec in the Making

Senior marketing major and Presidential Scholar Caleb Nyberg will graduate in May with a pretty good idea of what his future holds. With an internship with Rubin Postear & Associates (RPA), a high-profile advertising firm in Santa Monica, Calif., extended through the summer, Caleb is on track to landing his dream job.

Caleb says he has LMU’s new marketing institute, the M-School, to thank for helping him to get the internship, as the school often brings in recruiters to network with students, and one such recruiter was from RPA.

“LMU, and more specifically the M-School have given me opportunities and experiences I wouldn’t have gotten elsewhere,” said Caleb, who hopes his internship will develop into a permanent position with the agency as a junior copywriter.

Touting the M-School as an innovative program that immerses its students in the digital and online marketing milieu, Caleb says he calls upon the skills he has acquired in the program daily for his work at the agency.

“I’m drafting copy for websites and banner ads, you name it,” Caleb said. “The skills I attained at LMU and in the M-School prepared me to do well at an agency like RPA.”

LMU has approximately 1,500 internships available to its students. Caleb made the most of his accessibility to Los Angeles and all that the city has to offer, building his resume with solid experience during his undergraduate years.

Last summer, Caleb completed an internship at the Neighbor Agency, where he created content for various social media platforms for brands like Jamba Juice, California Pizza Kitchen, and Tillamook Cheese. And prior to this, he interned at DVA Advertising and Public Relations.

Identifying himself as an analytical thinker who admires the creative temperament, Caleb says advertising resonates with him because it is “art with a purpose, a balance of analytical, creative and strategic thinking, and it’s the most fun to be had in business.”

The Oregon native added that LMU truly expanded his horizons, giving him opportunity to see the world. “It has allowed me to become extremely well traveled,” Caleb said.

For example, in 2012, Caleb was awarded a summer undergraduate research grant that allowed him and a friend to travel to Ethiopia in order to make a documentary film on Ethiopia and its people.

Likewise, his junior year he studied abroad in Bonn, Germany and found his experience to be very cathartic. “Eventually I want to find a way to move to Northern Europe,” Caleb said. “I like the lifestyle over there.”

While Caleb says he can appreciate the laid back attitude he found in Europe, he was quite active during his time at LMU, taking part in the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, the university’s rowing team, as well as the business fraternity, Beta Gamma Sigma.

“There are a lot of ways to get involved on campus that people just don’t know about,” Caleb said. “Just keep your eyes open, keep busy, get involved.”