Old Bridge college student has unique plan to find job

OLD BRIDGE - Township resident Troy Allen has come up with a unique marketing strategy that is not only putting a few extra bucks in his pocket, but has the goal of landing him a full-time job.

Allen, 23, who is graduating May 25 from Georgian Court University in Lakewood with a 3.95 GPA, is selling advertising space on his graduation cap, which will also contain his resume. The advertising space is being sold for $50 per quadrant.

Advertising space on the entire cap initially was available for $180 or would be free to the business that offered him a full-time job. Since Allen has already sold two of the quadrants on the cap, he is offering the remaining advertising space for free to a business that hires him full time.

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"I mainly did it to try to get a job," said Allen, who majored in business administration with a concentration in marketing. "I thought it was a creative way to get my resume out there. That was my whole intention — not to sell the cap, but get a job. I thought from a marketing perspective that it was a very creative idea."

Allen, a member of the Old Bridge High School Class of 2012, sold the two advertising spaces to the Greater Toms River Chamber of Commerce and Creative Click Media in the Manahawkin section of Stafford.

The advertisements will be viewed by more than 800 people, he said. 

"I thought this was a creative, innovative and exciting idea that really showcased his entrepreneurial spirit and keen sense as a business person," said Georgian Court University Assistant Marketing Professor Ashley Elmore, who is Allen's academic adviser and current social media marketing instructor. Elmore also teaches various other marketing classes in which Allen was a student.   

"He's really a standout student," Elmore said. "To hear he did something like that isn't a big shock to me because he was always going above and beyond. It's really fun for us to see our students formulating these great ideas and doing interesting things, so we fully support it. He really put a lot of time into all of this. We thought it was really creative and we're very proud of him."  

Allen, part of the first graduating class to include men at the formerly all-women university, said he has been thinking about what he would put on his graduation cap for quite some time.

"I've seen people graduate each year with all these funny things and pictures on their cap," he said. "I wanted to do something that was more in the line of marketing because that's what I'm going to school for. I came up with this idea and thought it was worth a shot."  

He engaged in a direct mail campaign, sending information to about 60 businesses in New Jersey and New York City.

Allen also attended Brookdale Commmunity College. He is a part-time bank teller at Amboy Bank and was an intern at Creative Click Media and the Chamber of Commerce servicing Old Bridge, Sayreville and South Amboy. 

He said he became involved in marketing after taking classes in graphic design. 

"I found out that I'm very creative and I have a sense for business," he said. "That seemed like a good description for someone in marketing." 

Orders for the two available advertising spaces on Allen's cap must be received by May 22. He can be contacted at 732-407-7767 or tallen329@gmail.com.  

Staff Writer Susan Loyer: 732-565-7243; sloyer@gannettnj.com