Career – Ursula D.

Get the Offer: Navigating an Uncertain Job Market like a Boss with Julian Parra

April 30, 2021Business, College and CareerLeave a Comment

Career help is waiting for you.

Despite being so young, Julian Parra has a life’s worth of experience learning about how to discover your passion, navigate the job market, and land your dream job.

Born and raised in Hawthorne, New Jersey, Julian attended Babson College in 2016, where he quickly became interested in career development, when he became a career ambassador for the college’s Center for Career Development (CCD). As a career ambassador, Julian met with hundreds of undergraduate students a semester to help them with anything and everything career related. Julian’s experience working at CCD helped to shape his own career path as well, as he learned an incredible amount from mentoring others as well as interacting with the career advisors within the office.

Julian’s first internship was with Ernst and Young, where he interned within the tax and audit department. Through this experience, Julian learned that he was more interested in finance than accounting, yet he used this newfound knowledge to pivot, taking more finance classes the semester after. In doing so, however, Julian found that he compared himself to the other finance students in his classes, who were more passionate than he was. That same semester, Julian was also living in Babson’s computer science and coding community, which got him interested in working within business and tech.

The next summer, Julian had the opportunity to be a part of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, a program that helps minorities connect with fortune 500 companies. Through this program, Julian was able to connect with IBM and got offered an internship working for their enterprise performance management team. After his internship, Julian was offered a full time position and gladly accepted.

During quarantine last year, Julian found himself with a bit of free time between graduation and starting his full-time job. This time got him to reflect on the skills and knowledge that he learned both at CCD and through his job search. During quarantine is also when the popular social media and content creation app TikTok began to flourish. Julian has always been interested in content creation, having started a YouTube channel and Instagram account in which he provided professional advice and motivational content before. What captured Julian’s attention about the algorithm being used by TikTok is that anyone can have a piece of content go viral as long as they optimize watch time and shares, among many other tactics. Soon, Julian’s TikTok account @youknowitjulian, offering professional advice to young adults, was formed within a perfect storm.

Julian quickly started noticing his videos and TikTok content going viral, confirming his hypothesis that there was a real need for an end-to-end resource for navigating the job market that was digestible and provided advice on a high level. Julian recently formalized this content into a course that takes individuals through every phase of the job search process, from realizing their passion to salary negotiation. Julian took inspiration from his own experiences as well as his TikTok and Instagram audiences when developing the program.

Julian notes that young professionals, current college students, or even those who recently graduated and are interested in landing their first job or internship are perfect candidates for the course. Julian also sees those who are feeling lost, especially in terms of how to navigate the uncertain job market, or those whose employment status has been affected by COVID-19, really benefiting from his program.

When making this course, Julian emphasized his desire to be value-first in the course, highlighting only the useful facts, as well as making the content interactive. For example, Julian hosts a resume walkthrough, getting specific with what should go in each section and how this information should be formatted to maximize efficiency and readability. Julian does the same with both cover letters and your LinkedIn profile. Additionally, taking a popular segment from his TikTok channel, Julian has an interview role playing segment where students can get practice answering tough job interview questions.

In paying for the course, job seekers also gain access to resume, cover letter, and email response templates- really everything you need to network and nail an interview. Through the program, members even get access to an exclusive professional community, which Julian is also an active participant of, to debrief any content from the course or answer any questions members might have.

When asked about what his favorite aspects of the program are, Julian responded that it was hard to pick just one, but, if he had to, it would be the personal branding section. Julian views personal branding as being an important step to establishing your own personal identity that sets you apart from others in the job market. It is also an opportunity to be creative.

“You just need one person to look at your content to give you the opportunity of a lifetime,” says Julian.

When asked why should someone take this course and what Julian hopes his students will walk away with? Julian noted that he hopes his program will help job seekers view the employment process as not being as overwhelming and as intimidating as it often does. Julian hopes that those who take his course are able to navigate the market with ease and have an open space to have their questions answered. The overarching goals is to inspire confidence and better clarity on where seekers see their career trajectory going.

Whether it be related to their career, goals, or life aspirations, the world is any job seeker’s oyster and Julian’s program is the sand that generates the pearl!

Where to Find Julian:

Career Course (Enroll today!)

Website

Instagram

Sean Holland on Working at Deloitte in Government and Public Sector Consulting

March 19, 2021Business, College and CareerLeave a Comment

If you give a student an avocado, there’s no telling what they will do with it!

Sean Holland is someone with a great passion for public service, which began at a very young age. Since second grade, Sean believed that he would go to law school and become a lawyer or diplomat. This interest manifested itself in participating in Model United Nations when Sean was in high school and attending George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs in 2016, majoring in Political Science. After Freshman year, however, Sean discovered his love for economics and statistics and their application to real world problems.

Returning from his study abroad in Vienna his Junior year, Sean decided to apply for management consulting internships, as he knew many friends who were interested in the same field and felt that this unique opportunity could challenge and excite him. Sean did alright during the behavioral interview portion of his management consulting interviews, but fell short during the case interview process and did not receive an offer that summer. Going into Junior year with no summer internship, Sean knew that he would have to be productive somehow and took the summer to explore his interests and write about them. Sean learned how to code in R and wrote articles for Medium focused on statistics and analytics. Sean further differentiated himself by adding a comical undertone within his writings. Over the summer, Sean even had one of his articles on forecasting avocado prices published on Medium’s Towards Data Science site, which gained an incredible readership.

Armed with a summer of self-study and a portfolio of impressive research, Sean went through the Fall recruiting process his Senior year, and landed a Business Analyst position at Deloitte Consulting, specializing in government and public sector work. Sean credits landing the job to owning some of the best advice he received from his career counselor. Sean’s counselor told him to never underplay his achievements and to always convey his experiences in a positive light. To go into his interviews not with the perspective of having a summer with no internship, but a summer filled with enriched learning.

Sean adeptly describes a consultant’s role as providing subject matter expertise and a specific know-how to provide solutions to problems. Government consulting, specifically, aims to help a government agency create a vision for where they want their agency to be and works to create a roadmap for how the agency can achieve this. Although government agencies might have an in-house IT shop or finance department, these agencies often don’t have specific strategic departments that have a broad overview of all departments. As a consultant coming in, they would have the comparative advantage of working across multiple divisions and having a particular expertise that is missing. Government engagements also tend to be longer than commercial ones — often lasting several years — as consultants help along the journey from formulating strategies to advising on implementation.

Sean’s current project involves transforming budget management processes and best practices in a new defense agency. His day-to-day, like every consultant, varies greatly. On any particular Monday morning, Sean sits in on a “Stand Up” call with task leads to go over project details and developments. Afterward, he might meet with his team’s client to review some data that he has analyzed in a deck, take notes during a team brief, or help his team and project leads keep track of a lot of moving pieces related to the project. Sean would describe his work as a balance between both project management and strategy work for his team. As an analyst, his role is to mainly observe and support the vision Deloitte aims to create. Sean makes a point of mentioning that, although consulting can be high stress, he feels reassured that his work doesn’t have to be perfect the first time, but he has to show signs of improvement in what he does- advice every perfectionist should take to heart.

Sean notes that the most compelling part of his work is getting to interact with people who are on top of their game in terms of expertise. He goes further by mentioning that consulting attracts people who are used to working in teams and comfortable with hard work- those who are smart and comfortable working in teams naturally gravitating to the work. At Deloitte, Sean has met consultants who come from every background, from MBA grads to mathematicians to even former WNBA players.

In relation to challenges, Sean admits that consulting in the virtual world can be difficult in terms of feeling like you belong with a team you have never met before. Additionally, the learning curve can be pretty steep in terms of creating decks or analyzing data with expert precision. It is easy to get overwhelmed, yet the remedy for this is to realize that everyone has been in the same position at some point and that it is expected that you will need some time to learn; the benefits of hiring someone young is in being able to shape that person’s development to fill a special skill.

Looking towards the future, Sean is excited by the prospect of employing rigorous statistical methods to solve policy questions and aid in better decision-making within his work. Sean believes that work similar to this is the next frontier for consulting, where data is the most critical driver in supporting decision making.

For Sean, it seems that personal future possibilities are endless, as he continues to become persuaded by a variety of opportunities. Looking into the distance, Sean can see his life going in many different directions including attending law school and fulfilling his childhood dream, getting his MBA and working at Google, or maybe even staying at Deloitte forever!

“There are so many experiences to be had and so many opportunities out there. It’s hard to say what the future really holds.”

Julia Dean and Kristin Watson on the GTB Mentorship Program and the Power of Mentorship

March 17, 2021College and CareerLeave a Comment

Why mentorship matters.

Kristin Watson and Julia Dean had only been friends a short while before teaming up last summer to change the lives of students and recent graduates during the peak of the COVID pandemic.

After graduating in December of 2019 with a degree in Graphic Communications from Clemson University, Kristin found herself navigating the challenging job search process in early 2020. The resource that Kristin found extremely beneficial at the time was a strong mentor, pushing and leading her through the process. It was this mentor who ultimately helped her land a job at the Trade Desk. Having a mentor namely helped Kristin learn the ins and outs of the industry which ultimately shifted her focus from wanting to work in the agency side of advertising to ad tech.

On the other hand, Julia was locked-in with a position at Deloitte Consulting as a Human Capital Analyst, one she’d secured before graduating from Babson College in 2019. Still, Julia felt compelled to help those struggling with employment during COVID after seeing so many students and young adults on LinkedIn who had lost their jobs, internships, or were simply looking for work.

The Adobe conference where Julia and Kristin first met

Kristin and Julia met at an Adobe conference in 2018 and, being adamant about maintaining their network, stayed in touch. during quarantine, the two put their heads and past/ professional experiences together to come up with an idea: connecting mentors and mentees to ease current job woes. Given that her mentor was her main cheerleader, Kristin remembered how integral a mentor was to her job search process. Similarly, Julia recalled her providing mentorship as a resource for others, whether it was advising them on applying for the Fulbright Program, breaking into consulting or general career advice. It was a match made in heaven.

Their plan was to match students with mentors who were working in their field of interest so they could provide insights, advice, case prep, and even review resumes. The two began by informally naming the program “Let’s Get This Bread” and blasting out an interest form on LinkedIn. The name was splashy, the logo engaging, and the overall messaging resonated with the targeted age group, who were looking for a genuine and unintimidating approach to career help. What happened next wasn’t what either of them were expecting. The two estimated they might garner the interest of less than 30 young professionals , yet ended up engaging over 70 mentees (including myself!) and a little over 50 mentors.

Let’s Get This Bread Launch Video

After manually pairing the mentors and mentees, Kristin and Julia let all the participants structure their mentorship in the way that they wanted, enabling the pairings to choose the pace and frequency of meetings that were best for them. Six weeks later, the two sent an email to participants asking how the program went so they could evaluate how to define success for the program in the future.

The founders then launched a second version of their program with a new cohort of mentors and mentees after collecting feedback from the first group of participants. Through focus groups and feedback forms, Kristin and Julia realized they had a small but mighty group of members who really valued the platform the two were able to build for them. Asking for a mentor is incredibly daunting and it is difficult to find someone willing and able to speak with you on a consistent basis. This form of structured peer mentoring was more approachable to those who needed help and encouragement during the quarantine.

So, what ultimately makes a good mentee? Honesty, both founders said:

“You need to be honest about what you need help with; that’s how you will best use your time with your mentor.”

And for a mentor? It would have to be honesty and approachability. “There is nothing harder than having a mentor relationship that doesn’t feel like a safe place to be raw and candid,” says Kristin.

Kristin and Julia cite the time they started the program as being pivotal to the success of the rebranded “GTB Mentorship Program”. “A lot of people wanted to help out and a lot needed that help,” mentions Julia, who sees entrepreneurship as being instrumental to solving community-focused needs. The founders also note that the program was incredibly helpful to participants because mentors were only 1 to 3 years older than those they were mentoring, mimicking a peer-on-peer help model.

Julia and Kristin mentioned many positive stories that resulted from the program and I’d like to cite mine as being one of them! When I came across the program and its catchy title, I knew I had to be a part of something that was uplifting, encouraging, and helpful during the challenging time I was going through. Having lost multiple job opportunities due to the COVID pandemic, I was desperately seeking help to break into the consulting industry. I felt helpless and confused and thought it couldn’t hurt to seek some outside guidance. My mentor Sean turned out to be one of the most instrumental people throughout my job search process, case prepping with me, editing my resume, providing continual guidance, and inspiring me to create this very blog – thanks Kristin and Julia!

When I asked them why they thought they were the best people to run the GTB Mentorship Program, Kristin and Julia jointly replied that they didn’t consider themselves to be the right people to start the program. They explained it was their passion and commitment to following through on their idea that made them become the right people.

Although GTB shut down after its second cohort, I feel confident that there will be so many more amazing programs and businesses created by these intelligent women. What does that mean for the rest of us? If the future is anything like Kristin and Julia’s entrepreneurial past, help is on the way!

Aline Kolankowski on Working at Accenture in Management Consulting

March 12, 2021Business, College and CareerLeave a Comment

Learn all about work in the Talent and Organization / Human Potential practice.

Aline Kolankowski is a woman of many talents and persuasions. She is a hot sauce and pickle maker as well as a Peloton rider in her spare time and, from a work perspective, a management consultant at Accenture. Needless to say, Aline succeeds at whatever she puts her mind to.

Aline graduated from Gettysburg College with a concentration in computer science and a major in biology, yet entered the workforce working as a systems manager at American Express, where she worked for 13 years. From there, Aline worked at both Honeywell and CBS in Human Resources, before getting let go from her job in 2009.

Aline took this time to step back and re-evaluate her life trajectory – she even had a brief stint as a realtor, yet quickly realized this wasn’t a good fit. It was during this period that Aline pivoted to doing contract consulting and instantly fell in love with the type of work. After blindly applying online through Accenture’s job portal, she landed a job there as a management consultant manager working within the Talent and Organization / Human Potential practice. Through her work at Accenture, Aline has learned an incredible amount, including everything from cyber security and Salesforce to what the workforce of the future will look like.

Aline describes her work as building and managing relationships with her clients, vendors, and team in order to facilitate achieving goals. A day of work for Aline is dynamic- right now she is working through “hyper care” or post go-live support for her project at a large pharmaceutical company. Her objective is to ensure that their client hits all of their targets and she ensures this by having regular calls with them to go through open issues to get things resolved. Aline also meets with her business and technical teams, developing business requirements and solutions for her clients. Overall, Aline works to manage risks and juggle priorities, all while updating her clients on all of the above. When there is even a brief period in her day, Aline tries to fit in training and skill-building to keep herself sharp. Accenture consultants are encouraged to work on “plus one” projects that can help them gain experience and exposure to the extensive Accenture network.

Aline notes that the most compelling aspect of her work is the relationships she is able to build with her clients and team. She mentions a specific change management project she worked on with a Mid-Western technology company. Through this project, Aline was personally able to widen the depth and breadth of her knowledge, while making a significant impact on the company she was working with. She learned how to get employees engaged and involved as well as how to motivate people to see a different perspective through communication, tools, training, and interventions. Achieving the outcome doesn’t always come easy, however. Relationship building and aligning everyone in the right direction are some of the biggest challenges that Aline faces in her work, especially when she feels that everything is moving in the right direction until everything quickly begins to unravel again. Nevertheless, getting to see the outcome of her work – changing the way people do things – is what fascinates Aline and keeps her motivated in what she does.

Not only her clients do her clients motivate her, but the opportunity to step into a senior management position is also what engages Aline, as she is excited by the prospect of being able to lead more projects and take on more responsibility.

When asked about the best professional advice someone has ever given to her, Aline recalls a time when she had to speak to all of her American Express HR colleagues, yet was anxious to do so. Aline remembers one of her colleagues reassuring her not to be nervous because she was the only person in the room that knew what she was talking about at the level of expertise.

Her biggest takeaway- be confident in your own knowledge.

Aline’s advice for those looking to pursue a profession in consulting is to realize that it often seems glamorous, however, it’s much more work than glamour overall. Yet, despite the sleepless nights, there are so many opportunities to learn and grow, that if it’s something you are interested in, go for it and try it out. When it really comes down to it, finding meaningful work is about finding good people that you trust and value around you. Aline is eager to return to those people she has found at Accenture very soon, once face-to-face interactions and in-person client meetings are back on. In the meantime, she knows that those she needs are just a phone call away.

Consulting Case Prep with Johnny Bui (Part II)

March 5, 2021March 5, 2021College and CareerLeave a Comment

Want to learn quick and effective problem solving? Casing is the way to go.

Part II, here we go! If you are looking to go into consulting, case prepping, or just you’re here out of sheer curiosity as to what case prepping is, you’re in the right place! Johnny Bui and I have done our fair share of case prepping before becoming full-time consultants and we are here to give you all of the tips and tricks that we have picked up along our journeys. If you thought our case prep advice was helpful in Part I, get ready for more helpful insights right now!

General advice you would give to others on case prep?

Johnny:

If you don’t enjoy doing cases, this probably isn’t for you! I practiced live 10 cases a week for 3 months and loved every minute of it but I only did it because I enjoyed the challenge and relationship building part of it. Keep that in mind! Practice hard and practice often with as many different people as possible, consistently, so you learn different styles of communication, successful habits, and perspective. Even if you’ve never done a case before, you need to practice live ASAP. You don’t have to be great to start but you need to start to be great!

Here are some suggestions of how to do so:
- Make a post on LinkedIn requesting for case partners and really demonstrate your competence in cases on the post so they would be compelled to work with you
- If your career services on campus offers case prep, take advantage of that!
- Join consulting clubs on campus to get even more experience
- Do one market sizing case a day

So many people on LinkedIn want to give back after going through consulting case interviews: do a LinkedIn search for consulting content and scroll through to see what people have to offer. Usually it’s their consulting case books that they used! Feel free to reach out to me (Johnny Bui) as well. I have a ton. Also, reach out to alumni working in consulting for advice and resources!

Ursula:

When you first start out, it might be helpful to watch someone else who is proficient at “casing” first. From these videos, you can get a very good understanding of the strict methodology that you must follow in order to arrive at your conclusions. It also helps to learn from proficient casers, as you are able to pick up on the nuances they incorporate to execute a case well.

Our Recommended Key Resources:

YouTube
Your college’s career services
LinkedIn community of people looking for case partners to break into consulting
Case and Point by Marc Consantino and Case Interview Secrets by Victor Cheng

What process did you use in order to get better at cases?

Johnny:

I made a post looking for case partners that did very well on Linkedin and proceeded to make a GroupMe with almost everyone that expressed interest. I set up 10 case sessions a week over the course of 3 months and consistently showed up to each session even if I got ripped apart in previous sessions. I also kept a spreadsheet with every case I had done detailing my lessons learned, what worked, what didn’t work, and areas of improvement

Ursula:

Johnny did such an amazing job gathering together resources and like minded individuals who were interested in pursuing a career in consulting. I was fortunate enough to be apart of this group, which helped me to find partners to case with. Make sure to create a group or join one in order to be apart of a supportive and engaged community, it will make the process all the better! Also, it’s really a numbers game. The more cases you do, the better you will become, so keep at it!

Do you have a favorite case and, if so, could you share the prompt?

Ursula:

Cases are definitely not hard to come by- tons of cases a google or a page turn in your consulting book away- however, I have found these ones from Deloitte to be particularly helpful to work on, as they are tailored specifically to what you are interested in practicing.

Personally, what was the most challenging part about case prepping?

Johnny:

The most challenging part is starting your first live case with someone. You might feel like trash and that you’d rather practice more before you (inevitably) embarrass yourself but it is the first step to greatness. The second most important part is creating accountability for yourself. You need to schedule weekly cases and show up. Finally, once you are in the motion of practicing cases consistently, it’s understanding how companies in different industries generate revenue, how their business models work, asking the right questions, and following the right clues. What’s great about consulting is that every day is different. This translates into cases.

Ursula:

Couldn’t agree more with Johnny on these! I would also say… the shorthand math. I definitely had to brush up on my multiplication tables. I also did my research on the best methods in doing this. Just make sure to take a deep breath and count your zeros!

Was there ever a point at which you felt like you were comfortable doing cases and, if so, what did that look like for you?

Johnny:

Once I eventually mastered the basics, I knew that so long as I followed them, I would be in a good place if I trusted my business intuition upon understanding the prompt. After identifying the type of case and understanding what they want me to do – I could generally rely on my experiences with this type of case and this type of industry to guide me. But there would always be something different about the case. You have to learn to pay attention to detail and count every hair to see if one is out of place. Details can be tedious to sift through but you’ll learn to think fast and perceive when something is wrong.

Ursula:

There is a point in time where you have this strange feeling intuitively. There is a very powerful feeling that comes along with knowing that whatever comes your way, you have a process, a procedure, and you can rely on yourself to come to a reasonable conclusion. It’s a really proud moment too. You will know when you have done enough cases. It will just feel right. If you don’t know what I am talking about, then you probably should keep prepping!

Things that you wish you would have done differently in regards to case prep?

Johnny:

I wish I started sooner and did not allow my fear of underperforming hinder my confidence to take consulting seriously. I was self-conscious about what my performance would say about what I knew about business and delayed taking case prepping seriously.

Ursula:

Agreeing with Johnny- just start. You will be amazed how incrementally better you get with each case. Always ask for feedback at the end and keep a running list of what you did well and what you can improve upon. It’s easy to let your ego get in the way, but one of the biggest lessons that I learned from the whole process is to be comfortable with failing, so fail fast and hard, and to not let a poor math calculation or wrong answer change the way you see yourself in regards to your intelligence.

Marsalis Pearce on being an Associate Merchant at J.Crew

March 3, 2021College and Career, FashionLeave a Comment

Men’s shoes, J.Crew work culture, and so much more.

Marsalis Pearce, better known as Marz, is a Harlem native who is all about retail. Having graduated from Babson College with a concentration in retail supply chain management, Marz has always had his sights set on working in the industry. Marz’s passion for the fashion industry originated during high school, at a time when he was interested in design and had sights on starting his own clothing line. Over the years, Marz worked in sales at The Foundation Showroom in New York City and had the opportunity to work with men’s apparel and footwear brands. Marz also interned at Ross before his last semester of college, where he took a deep dive into merchandising, the opposite side of the coin from sales. Now, Marz has found his place at J.Crew, working as an Associate Merchant, managing the men’s footwear business both online and in-store.

Leading up to working at J.Crew, Marz had a list of companies that he was interested in working for, J.Crew being on the list because of its cool aesthetic of classic American style. When he checked out the career opportunities at there, Marz stumbled on the Assistant Merchant role and applied. Soon after he heard back, Marz had an interview, and got an offer the next day! Marz credits the timing of everything, his prior experience in retail, and his ability to communicate authentically in telling his story in helping him land this dream job.

Marz credits culture as being one of the biggest things that has kept him working for the company for three years now. From his very first encounter interviewing for the company, Marz knew that J.Crew was a place that he wanted to work, the employees all being incredibly friendly and inviting. Within the first few months of working at J.Crew, Marz was encouraged by the fact that no matter what your position, your perspective matters and your opinion is valued. Marz is always encouraged to share his point of view, not only on his business but other businesses within the company as well.

“There is nothing that you are going to do here that is going to burn down the building,” says Marz, a piece of advice that he was given from a co-worker, which has helped him adopt a healthier mindset towards work.

During J.Crew’s recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which the company recovered from, Marz also felt that the transparency that J.Crew offered during this time was extremely refreshing and reassuring. Marz specifically credit’s J.Crew’s leadership in helping their employees stay motivated during a really tough time.

As an Associate Merchant at J.Crew, Marz is responsible for managing the full product lifecycle within men’s footwear, which includes shoes, boots, sneakers, flip-flops, and slippers. Marz partners with design, production, planning, allocation, stores, marketing, and brand creative to ensure he’s delivering the right assortment, at the right price, at the right place, at the right time, and to the right customer, all while meeting the financial goals of the company. His job involves a significant amount of cross-functional interaction, his role really sitting at the heart of the company. His division ultimately is in charge of brainstorming the needs of the company and customer to deliver the most value. Within the footwear department, there is also a high penetration of third party brands, as J.Crew works in close partnership with New Balance, Adidas, Sperry, and Reebok to name a few.

Marz has had a passion for footwear for over six years now, considering Adidas Sambas and a classic white Nike court sneaker to be some of his go-tos. Marz considers his style to be a mix between Americana with a hint of streetwear. Although he has had a huge passion for streetwear since he was little, Marz mentions that J.Crew has unlocked another level of style for him. Some days Marz likes to throw on loafers and jeans, while others he dawns chinos and sneakers. “I always choose the shoe first and dress from the bottom up.”

A day at work for Marz is super fast-paced, especially at the peak of the pandemic in Spring, Summer of 2020, as Marz was having to react to the pandemic’s effect on the economy. When stores were quickly closing, Marz was forced to rethink incoming orders and pulling goods forward. It was an intense but insightful process, Marz notes, as it enabled him to understand how to read and react to supply and demand. In the mornings, Marz has a touchbase with his manager to review expectations for the week, month, and quarter. Marz then could be reviewing previous or future budgets and having meetings with production and design team to review upcoming products. The end the day could look like another team meeting with the marketing division about a sneaker launch and the needs associated in order to promote the style. Despite working from home, Marz is able to work pretty efficiently, but also goes into the office in person to review products with his teams.

“Day to day really varies. It’s a perfect balance of rhythm and chaos,” says Marz.

Marz’s favorite aspect of the job is the road mapping stage, when he plans for the future of J.Crew Men’s footwear retail will look like. Currently, Marz is working on Spring 2022, considering the company’s needs, looking back at previous seasons, and accessing what opportunities or misses that he has had- buy less, more, or not at all. The job’s analytical and creative requirements is also an aspect of the job that Marz appreciates.That being said, Marz typically works on 5 seasons at a time:

Liquidating holiday 2020
Preparing to launch spring 2021
Putting finishes on summer 2021
About to place fall 2021 orders
Having conversations about holiday 2021

Looking towards the future of fashion, Marz predicts that the industry will change in a number of ways. “As technology changes and as we get older and our needs change, our buying decisions change as well,” notes Marz. Marz regards the recent increase in consumer spending and pent up demand for certain products ironic in some regards, since we are all working from home and limit leaving the house. With the pandemic having an impact on special events, such as weddings, as well as office culture changing, Marz sees a shift towards more casual styling, especially in the suiting world. The pandemic has also resulted in a segment of consumers reevaluating what they are buying and the value and quality of those items. Overall, there seems to be a lot of introspection happening that hasn’t happened for a while, as people have more time to stop and reflect.

What excites Marz about his own future? The opportunity for him to learn more about himself- his interests, strengths, and areas of growth. Marz’s resolution for 2021 is to get to know himself more and to leave behind any baggage, which has led him to a positive direction in life and work. Marz is filled with a lot of hope this year and- you know- so are we.

Glynis Gilio on becoming a Constitutional Lawyer

February 19, 2021College and CareerLeave a Comment

Read all about a fierce woman ready to take on the Supreme Court!

When I first met Glynis Gilio during a two month study abroad in London, England, I knew there was something so special about her. She is incredibly driven, intelligent, and always bursting with energy and positivity- all qualities that I know will serve here well as a future Constitutional lawyer. To take you through her journey to becoming a lawyer, here is Glynis herself!

Glynis! Tell the blog community a little bit about yourself!

I’m currently in my final year of law school at Michigan State University College of Law. My legal studies specialize in constitutional litigation, specifically First Amendment free speech and political speech issues. In addition to my classes, I am the Vice President of our student government, the Student Bar Association, a competitive member of the Trademark Moot Court team, a student-member of MSU Law’s Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Institute, and a performing member of MSU Law’s Musical Theatre Law Revue. In my free time, I love to paint, travel, spend time with my five-year-old shih tzu-pekingese mix Pepper, sing, dance, act, and obsess over all things Real Housewives.

When did you first become interested in law and what interests you most about becoming a lawyer?

My path to the legal profession is very atypical. Prior to attending law school, I was a professional actress for almost a decade. I had the opportunity to travel all over the country for various acting engagements on film and onstage. I loved my work, but I was advised by many actors, who knew that I was an impressionable young girl, that being a full-time actor is hard work. It often results in long periods of unemployment, struggles to pay the bills. I knew of a very successful actress in Chicago who lived in a one-bedroom apartment with her fiancé and two other couples. Many of my mentors impressed upon me that if being an actress was the only thing that I knew I wanted to do, or could do, then I should pursue that. But if I knew that I could use my passions or talents elsewhere, I should pursue other avenues.

I began to examine what I loved doing the most. I loved reading, writing, working collaboratively, and telling great stories. A family friend suggested law school and expressed his belief that I would be a great lawyer. I initially laughed at the thought. I didn’t feel as though I was smart enough to take the LSAT, let alone get into a law school or pass the bar. But I felt a call in my heart to pursue this avenue, and I’m glad I followed that call.

Why did you choose to specialize in constitutional law and what do you believe is the most important deciding factor in choosing a legal specialization?

I’ve studied constitutional theory and history for the vast majority of my life. The Constitution was the centerpiece of my undergraduate studies. I’ve always been taught to have a great amount of respect for the Constitution and its founding. Constitutional questions have always fascinated me the most. Constitutional legal questions also often have the greatest consequences hanging in the balance. Equal protection and substantive due process questions can have life changing effects upon so many people’s lives. Constitutional law is influential, consequential, and often very provocative. Who wouldn’t want to work in that space?

I believe, and perhaps this is because of my music and theatre background, that there is a rhythm to every area of the law. A rhythm to family law, a rhythm to environmental law, a rhythm to the IRS tax code, etc. You have to find which rhythm you can follow along with. Very often, it may not be just one area of the law. For instance, although I have a strong passion for constitutional law, I also love intellectual property law. I think it is also helpful to get practice experience in whatever specialization you’re interested in. I’ve been fortunate to work at various public interest law firms, so I have the practical experience in constitutional litigation to know that this is what I want to do.

Have your internship experiences helped shape your perspective and interest in law and, if so, how?

Law school is all about the theoretical, and internship experiences are about the practical. Internship experiences give you insight into the nuances of the practice of law that you would never receive in law school classes. Oftentimes I feel that working with attorneys can either turn people off to the practice of law or reaffirm their desire to be a part of that community. For me, it has certainly done that latter. During my time at Freedom Foundation, for example, I have had the opportunity to write an amicus brief for the Supreme Court. The fact that I get to know that the Supreme Court Justices are going to read my work. That is such an exciting prospect that I can’t help but feel motivated to continue working to refine my skills. The opportunities, and new perspectives, that internship experiences can provide are invaluable, and they have certainly helped me to get closer to becoming the attorney that I want to be.

What is the most valuable professional advice someone has given to you and what is a piece of advice you would give to someone interested in studying law?

I think the most valuable professional advice that I’ve been given is to be unapologetic in the pursuit of your career goals. Oftentimes, people who are just starting out can feel like it’s annoying or bothersome to send follow up emails or cold emails about job opportunities. I was encouraged to disregard those hesitations because the reward is often so much greater than the potential fear that someone reading an email may feel bothered or annoyed. This has been the best advice I could have received because I have reaped nothing but beneficial results from being bold. I secured my first internship during law school from a cold email to a fellow college alumni. I’ve even had prospective employers thank me for follow-up emails because my initial email got buried in their inbox. This approach really puts the “be fearless in the pursuit of your dreams” mentality into action.

My advice to anyone interested in studying law is do not go to law school unless you know that you want to be an attorney. I say many of my friends and classmates struggle during their first year of law school because they decided to go to law school in the hopes of becoming something other than an attorney. Many people decide to go to law school because they couldn’t think of anything else that they wanted to do after working for a few years. Law school rigorously trains you to become a lawyer. If you feel called to become a politician, teacher, cop, or anything else, law school is probably not the right path for you. This should come as no surprise, but law school is a very stressful experience. What motivated me to push through the stress is because I knew that at the end of all of it, and after hopefully passing the bar exam, I would become a lawyer. If you don’t want to be a lawyer, the stress will be doubled or tripled because you will be constantly questioning why you subjected yourself to that experience. So my advice is to think long and hard about whether you want to become a lawyer before applying to law school.

When you become a practicing constitutional lawyer, what is one thing you are looking forward to?

I am looking forward to interacting with my clients. That is an experience that you rarely ever get during your law school experience. Especially in the constitutional law arena, the majority of the time clients have emotionally compelling stories. As a people-person I’m really looking forward to having one-on-one time with my client. Nobody ever wants to have to call their lawyer. Being a lawyer is about knowing how to help people during the worst situations in their lives. There has to be a level of sensitivity there. That is why it is so important to form strong, dependable relationships with your clients so that they know they can count on you to get them through their personally challenging time.

What impact do you hope to make in the legal profession?

One day I hope to give an oral argument at the podium of the Supreme Court. I want my career to support the efforts to protect individual liberties against government infringement, support a limited, transparent government, and safeguard the cherished tradition in our country of preserving liberty and justice for all. There are ever-growing threats to citizens’ individual liberties and so many legal questions that remain unsolved. These are the very questions that I want my work to address.

What about the future excites you as a law student and future lawyer?

The practice of law changes so quickly. Over the past year, there have been so many changes from remote working to virtually giving oral arguments. This is something that the legal profession has had to rapidly acclimate to. The traditional brick-and-mortar law firms may be obsolete in the next decade. There are so many new possibilities in terms of where the practice of law could go, and I’m excited to ride that wave.

Patrick O’Hanlon on his Profession in Library Sciences

February 8, 2021February 15, 2021College and Career, LifestyleLeave a Comment

Being surrounded by books teaches you a host of life lessons.

As many of you may know, I worked as an Information Assistant at my college’s library. My experience working at the library is one that I hold in the highest regard. I enjoyed so much helping others find books and recommending my favorite reads to students. I also found it fascinating to witness our library’s transition from majority print resources to shifting towards more digital resources. Our world is changing at such a rapid pace that it becomes increasingly important to prioritize asking why these changes are occurring, what our future will look like, and how we fit into this new normal. It was such a great pleasure to speak with Patrick O’Hanlon, who works in the Library Sciences, to hear about his unique career journey as well as his take on the future of print.

Patrick! Please share a little bit about yourself!

What was your major in college and how did your academic experience guide your professional endeavors?

During undergrad studies, my major was Speech Communication with a minor in Media Production. It’s a very broad major, but I supplemented it with internships and a variety of jobs. I was a jack-of-all trades after receiving my bachelor’s degree, and just after graduation, I bounced around more than I’d expected. The biggest change happened after I lived abroad for a year and then returned to find a media job in academia. That position helped me form my personal life and gave me stability.

Did you always know that you wanted to work in library access services or have a career trajectory towards library and information science?

Working in library sciences was something that I was drawn to as a career change. My personal life had the chance to grow because of the steady job I found at Suffolk University. The reliability of the workplace was comfortable, and while I did pursue other projects outside of work, it became clear that my existing skills weren’t going to afford me any new opportunities to advance my career in the visible future.

While discussing it with Lynn, my wife, my propensity for organization kept resurfacing, and I applied for the Masters of Library Science program at Simmons College, which has since become a university. Once I was accepted as a part-time student, it took four years to finish the program. Taking graduate classes – even one at a time – with a full-time job, doesn’t afford the same kind of tight-knit experience that undergrad does. You make connections and collaborate with great people, but you’re all quickly pulled in different directions with life’s other obligations being based almost entirely off campus.

How did you ultimately end up working for Babson?

After graduation, it took about nine months of searching after finishing my Masters before I made my way to Babson. Simmons is one of the best library science schools in the country and offers its graduates great resources for job placement. It was finding my way through my own personal boundaries that became the real challenge. My family is mostly in the Boston area and Lynn also has a very serious career here, so picking up and moving somewhere new simply to apply my new degree was not in the cards.

I had been to Babson’s Wellesley campus on an occasion or two in the past, and as a visitor, it had just seemed like a picturesque college. Returning with the possibility of working in the library opened up the highlights of the business community for me, and the entrepreneurial spirit of the community is inspiring. The students want to not only do well for themselves, but also to build the future. Entrepreneurship is the long lever that they have found that really can move the world. This was a place I was intrigued to be a part of, and it’s fantastic to contribute to an constantly evolving institution.

What about your job is most engaging to you?

It’s the academic setting of the Horn Library that is one of the appealing things about working at Babson. It is a community of people who believe in changing the world for the better. The students and teachers here are the stars. My role as a librarian and a manager is a supporting one. The technical aspects of working in a library can be picked up rather quickly, and it is absolutely about making the library serve the community,

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

The ongoing, but welcoming, challenge is managing people. Oh, and scheduling. (My god, the scheduling!) The student employees are more often the day-to-day face of the library and report to me. As a manager of people who are in one of the first jobs early in their work life, it’s about encouraging them to trust their problem solving abilities and then recognizing the teachable moments when difficulties occur that will help them navigate as professionals in careers well beyond library customer service.

Do you have a favorite book or author?

One of the books that made an impression on me just after college was the memoir “A Pirate Looks at Fifty” by Jimmy Buffett, the musician. (Two things to be noted are that his personal worth is currently estimated to be around $600 million and that he has no relation to Warren Buffett the investor.) Here is someone who took a very basic skill that he learned in college during his spare time – playing four chords on a guitar – and parlayed it over decades into one of the best-known entertainment careers of the Baby Boomers’ generation. His public journey was far from certain and even a performer’s career comes with unexpected indignities in tow. His music isn’t complex and hasn’t won many awards in spite of the widespread popularity of its heyday, but he measures his success in the reception he and his bandmates receive from fans when they perform. The reflections he has in the book show that even with the adventures he’s been afforded, no job compensation or perk is worth the effort if you can’t give yourself fully over the day-to-day of what you do or if you don’t love who you share your private time with once the crowd goes home. (His pro tip for future parents: hone your pancake-making skills.)

How is the field of information and the way that libraries function changing and what do you see the future of libraries looking like?

Libraries are undoubtedly leaping towards a more digital future, but they won’t be entirely digital. Digital resources are the supercar of knowledge. They can get you where you want to go faster than anything that has come before, but you still need people to drive it. Storing and encouraging knowledge is what libraries are here to do. Librarians are never themselves going to be omniscient repositories, but they can be the sherpa guides who know the territory to get you where you want to go. Libraries will be where the digital and human worlds of education meet.

Will print ever die?

The question of whether or not print will ever die is a perennially relevant question. The short answer is no, even as we’ve come to rely on digital exponentially more during the pandemic. Is it changing? Absolutely. People freaked out that oral tradition was going to die and intelligence would dim with the written word becoming more common back in Socrates’ day. The Gutenberg Printing Press made books more accessible than any time before and there was concern that people would devalue the skill of reading. Now we’re well into racing along another iteration of how people disseminate and consume information, and any rapid, systemic change is unsettling. Paper is certainly less efficient for rapid delivery and is becoming less day-to-day, but it will still be an important part of how we consume and store information long term. Studies have shown that, as individuals, we retain information better when we read analog print, and there isn’t yet a digital tablet that has the battery life or storage medium to outlast paper and ink.

What about the future personally excites you?

Today’s students are approaching the world with an eye toward making the whole work better for everyone. It’s a spirit of leadership that will take advantage of some of the best technologies we’ve ever had to solve problems. I look forward to seeing the inventiveness of the classes of students I’ve watched pass through campus come into their own and show just how much they can do.

What Learning to Code Taught Me

January 13, 2021College and Career, LifestyleLeave a Comment

It’s not as easy as ABC or 123, but maybe 1010…

A few months ago, I had a phone call with a recruiter. It had taken me weeks to set this call up. It all began with a networking call, then an email reference to internal HR, then finally to the recruiter for the job that I was interested in. The job was as an Operations Analyst at a popular fashion retailer and I could not have been more excited. Despite my sticky palms, I hopped on the recruiting call, ready to discuss why I was most qualified for the position. After running through my resume with the recruiter, she mentioned that she was impressed with both my enthusiasm and experiences just coming out of college, however, the position required a working knowledge of SQL. At the time, I only had experience with R code, a coding language that I learned in my Quantitative Business Analytics courses. She said that this would not normally be a considerable problem, however there is a mandatory SQL test during the recruitment process that I would not be able to finish if I did not understand SQL. After thanking her for the call, I remember sitting in my room completely frustrated. I had just lost an incredible opportunity due to the fact that I did not have one simple skill. It was then and there that I knew I had to roll up my sleeves and take a crack at it. Challenge accepted.

In simple terms, a coder is someone who writes specific instructions or a “program” for a computer to understand and process the submitted request in the form of a completed task. Different coding languages are used for different purposes and require a specific language for writing “instructions”. SQL is a particularly helpful language for managing data in a relational database management system, making it useful for data analytics roles.

If you are a beginner, like myself, I recommend using Codecademy to get your feet wet! Codecademy is free to sign up and offers various different courses to learn coding languages, such as SQL, Python, R, and Java. After signing up for my SQL course on Codecademy, I decided to dive right into the first session. Each session is composed of a few parts, the main ones being lessons, informational articles, projects, and quizzes. I especially appreciated the variety in material the courses offer, which helps coders learn the language more than memorize it. I also really enjoyed the challenging projects within each session that tests your coding skills in a useful and practical manner.

After earning my “Learn SQL” course with Codecademy this past November, I had a few takeaways that I thought were worth sharing. My first takeaway is that, although the phrase “learning to code” and other tech terminology may seem intimidating, coding can be learned by anyone no matter what skill level. If your ambition is there, there is no stopping what you can learn, especially given the incredible online resources at your disposal. If you put your mind to something you can just about teach yourself anything. Simply put, learning to code is just like learning a new language. It seems intimidating from the start, but the magic is in when you find out it really isn’t too complicated. You are just not versed in the conversation yet!

Another noteworthy takeaway is that coding allows you to think in ways you never approached problems before. When you are in the process of learning to code, you are pushed to ask yourself difficult questions that may be frustrating in the beginning. Coding forces you to dive deeply into the “why” questions, which you must answer in order to write efficient and useful code. Learning to code orients your mind into breaking down complex issues into bit size pieces that you must understand in order to accomplish your goal. A life lesson almost more than a coding one.

Lastly, learning to code helps you become more detail oriented in your thinking. When writing code, you must go through a step by step process of explaining to the computer what to do. But, once you get the basics down, it is just learning what more functions and short cuts are at your disposal. It is incredible learning about the possibilities of coding, organizing data, and the capabilities of modern technology. You just have to try it for yourself!

The future is only going to become more and more technologically integrated, making it worth understanding the fundamentals to fully appreciate the world’s sheer complexity. It is only when we uncover the basics that we begin to understand how far we have developed as a people, society, and world. Thank you internet.

Lauren MacArthur on Being a Recruiter and Advice for Job Seekers

January 4, 2021January 4, 2021Business, College and CareerLeave a Comment

Equipping you with the tools to land a job during challenging circumstances.

If you are currently navigating the job space, this article is definitely for you. If you aren’t, make sure to share this post with someone who could benefit from the wisdom of an expert in the recruiting space. Landing a job isn’t easy in a stable environment, making securing a position in our current circumstances an exceptionally difficult feat. My 6 month long job search was one of the most challenging and emotionally draining periods of my life. It can be a battle everyday to wake up with motivation to continue networking, emailing, and applying for positions with hundreds, even thousands, of other applicants. If you are someone who is looking for a job yourself, don’t give up! You are strong, capable, and resilient. A position will come along and, with enough hard work, you will be the one to fill it. Keep going.

I have shared this with someone who needs it!

A daughter, pop culture junkie, friend, movie lover, and fiancé, Lauren MacArthur is many things on top of being an expert recruiter at Veeva Systems, a cloud-computing company focused on pharmaceutical and life sciences industry applications.

Lauren graduated from Muhlenberg College with a Major in English and Minor in French and Creative Writing. When looking for jobs right out of college, Lauren always thought that she would work in public relations or publishing. While looking for opportunities in these fields, however, a staffing agency that she was working with mentioned that she would be a great fit for recruitment. Lauren had no idea what the profession of a recruiter looked like beforehand, yet, once she began investigating a bit further realized that recruiting could be a good fit. Lauren is a people lover at her very core and an opportunity to connect people with opportunities to help their personal growth sounded like an incredible role.

When interviewing a candidate, here are some things Lauren looks for:

A team player
Passion
Flexibility
Innovative mindset
Comfortable navigating ambiguity
In-depth knowledge of company overall
Self-starter

If she is recruiting for a client facing role, Lauren looks for a strong communicator and the ability to engage well with others. While, if Lauren is looking for a data scientist or a software engineer, she looks for someone who has a strong understanding of specific technical skills.

For each role that opens up at the company, Lauren meets with hiring managers to get an idea of what they are looking for, what the process looks like, and to ensure she moves through efficiently. Then, Lauren interviews the candidates that have applied. Common questions that she normally asks are (subject to the role):

“What are you hoping for in your next role?”

“Tell me about a time where you had to work with someone difficult and how you navigated that?”

“Tell me about a time when you had to build a product from the ground up?”

Lauren tries to avoid using yes or no questions, making the questions more situational and open ended in order to get the most qualitative information from the candidate.

Having been a recruiter for some time now, Lauren notes that she has seen it all, including candidates who forget what role they are interviewing for or what company she recruits for. To avoid awkward interactions with your recruiter, Lauren recommends doing your research when it comes to the company you are interviewing with, enough so that you can have a thorough conversation about it.

“It’s always the best when someone has a lot of questions or fills the full 30 minutes. It is also great to see when someone is truly passionate about their work, where before you can ask them about a certain situation, they tell you about it first. Just be your authentic self.”

One of the most challenging aspects of Lauren’s job the push and pull between being honest with candidates in helping them on their career journeys while also valuing the vision of the business and what works for each group. Additionally, Lauren finds that, at times, giving feedback to candidates can be tough, especially when she connects with someone within the recruiting process. Those rejection conversations can be difficult, but transparency is the most important for the candidate experience.

In terms of advice she has for individuals looking for a job right now, Lauren mentions that persistence is key as well as maintaining the connections that you have in your network. It is a long game, not a short one. Any connections that you can make now are going to be beneficial so that when a position does open up, you will be first on their mind, says Lauren.

One of the most rewarding aspects of Lauren’s job is seeing everything come full circle, when she ends up working with the individuals that she screened for hiring. Veeva is a talent partner based company, which really looks for individuals whose values align with the company, making true fits difficult, but well worth it. Veeva looks for individuals who are not only qualified for the position based on their skillset, but who also align with the values and vision of the company. Engaging with and learning from others on a daily basis is what really makes her job enjoyable as well.

Lauren has seen recruiting change over the years drastically, given that there are so many more platforms, such as LinkedIn, Indeed, Cardea, out there for job seekers. There are a multitude of places that you can get your applicants from. Diversity is also more important than ever before, as there is a greater prioritization in creating a more inclusive and equitable process.

What does the future of recruitment look like to Lauren?

Lauren sees more systems and automation being incorporated into the process.

“I think in the future there is going to be a day when a computer reads and processes almost all of the information for prospective employees, where applicant tracking systems can help evaluate role alignment. Also, we will be able to have more data and metrics to track performance, productivity, and further perfect our process to attract talent.”

Additionally, Lauren mentions that talent marketing will continue to grow and expand, companies focusing on emphasizing their talent brand. Sourcing talent is great, but it’s always better to have job seekers coming to you to want to work at your company, Lauren cites. The prioritization of certain benefits has also become more popular, as people have started to care a lot more about work-life balance, benefits, culture, diversity, and resource groups, to name a few.

We live in an ever changing world that continues to require adaptation, resilience, and flexibility, qualities of every good employee. With a little bit of persistence and hope for the future, we will all make it through this challenging time. One day at a time!

Where to Find Julian:

General advice you would give to others on case prep?

Johnny:

Ursula:

Our Recommended Key Resources:

What process did you use in order to get better at cases?

Johnny:

Ursula:

Do you have a favorite case and, if so, could you share the prompt?

Ursula:

Personally, what was the most challenging part about case prepping?

Johnny:

Ursula:

Was there ever a point at which you felt like you were comfortable doing cases and, if so, what did that look like for you?

Johnny:

Ursula:

Things that you wish you would have done differently in regards to case prep?

Johnny:

Ursula:

Glynis! Tell the blog community a little bit about yourself!

When did you first become interested in law and what interests you most about becoming a lawyer?

Why did you choose to specialize in constitutional law and what do you believe is the most important deciding factor in choosing a legal specialization?

Have your internship experiences helped shape your perspective and interest in law and, if so, how?

What is the most valuable professional advice someone has given to you and what is a piece of advice you would give to someone interested in studying law?

When you become a practicing constitutional lawyer, what is one thing you are looking forward to?

What impact do you hope to make in the legal profession?

What about the future excites you as a law student and future lawyer?

Patrick! Please share a little bit about yourself!

Did you always know that you wanted to work in library access services or have a career trajectory towards library and information science?

How did you ultimately end up working for Babson?

What about your job is most engaging to you?

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

Do you have a favorite book or author?

How is the field of information and the way that libraries function changing and what do you see the future of libraries looking like?

Will print ever die?

What about the future personally excites you?

I have shared this with someone who needs it!

A team player

Passion

Flexibility

Innovative mindset

Comfortable navigating ambiguity

In-depth knowledge of company overall

Self-starter