Not many students can leap into a leadership position without rising through the ranks first.

But Dan Kimmel has accomplished that feat. The advertising junior was recently selected to be advertising manager for The State News.

His term begins May 1, and will end in May 2003.

Kimmel has been a receptionist in The State News business office since fall 2001 but has not worked in the advertising department. However, he brings a wealth of outside managerial experience to the position.

His past work experiences include assisting in the managerial department of an advertising company, serving as assistant manager of a retail sporting goods store and managing a grounds crew for a 60-building apartment complex.

“I just emphasized my past management experience, and how that related to the job,” he said. “I know how things work in the business office. Since I’ve had experience managing students before, this is not something new.”

Kimmel was chosen over three other students who applied for the position.

“I think that’s the most we have ever had,” said Sarah Brewer, The State News advertising manager and an advertising senior.

Applicants submitted a portfolio, including a résumé and an essay stating their goals and ideas they could bring to help The State News, Brewer said.

The applicants were interviewed by the advertising staff, which then made recommendations to the State News Board of Directors.

“He gave a great interview. He seemed calm and collected, and that’s the way it seemed he would be as a supervisor,” said Jenny Prechowski, a State News retail account executive and hospitality business sophomore who participated in the interviewing process.

“He had ideas that people hadn’t thought of before. If we can put them into action, it can be profitable for us.”

Kimmel said he didn’t consider a career in advertising until after he arrived at MSU.

“I was originally a business major,” he said. “Quite honestly, the business classes I took were dry and not interesting at all. I took an advertising class and it was really interesting, so I decided to check it out.”

After working in The State News business office, Kimmel decided it would be advantageous to apply for the advertising manager position when he heard about it.

“This is a great opportunity to gain a lot of experience in a field that I want to be in the rest of my life,” he said. “I have a lot of experience in management and it’s important to understand how to manage efficiently. You have to know how to deal with problems that arise with employees and in other areas.”

Board members selected Kimmel based on the advertising staff’s recommendations as well as more interviews, State News General Manager Marty Sprigg said.

Sprigg said she doesn’t doubt Kimmel’s potential as an efficient manager.

“He has a good sense of what it takes to be a good sales representative,” she said. “He has many new and workable ideas that we hope to incorporate. He’s bringing a fresh perspective, since he hasn’t worked within the department before.

“All types of media have been facing challenges in their advertising departments recently. I think that Dan is up to those challenges.”

Kimmel hopes he can succeed at improving the quality of advertising at The State News.

“I’m looking at increasing our ad revenue and smoothing out the internal operations,” he said. “I want to make sure that it’s an efficient way of doing business. That’s the ultimate goal - to be efficient at all ends of the spectrum.”