Grads cite “Three I’s” for strong career starts
Graduation day has come and gone … but where are our graduates now? Poole College communications reached out to several students who reported back by email about their new jobs. Following are their stories.
Vijayalakshmi Kasiviswanathan – Reaching for the Big Four | Sarah Adams – Making a global start | Evan MacIntyre – Improving processes, engineering new ideas | Michelle Miloslavich – Building her “tool box” from Day One
Reaching for the Big Four
Vijayalakshmi Kasiviswanathan came to Poole College as an international transfer student from Coimbatore, India, in her sophomore year. In May 2015, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a concentration in information systems.
“Ever since I enrolled in business school, my dream goal was to work (for) a Big Four,” she said in an ema il interview. “I am beyond excited to announce I will be working for Pricewaterhouse Coopers in San Francisco after graduation,” she said.
Poole College’s focus on experiential learning in the classroom and beyond helped her prepare to reach her target.
“My projects and case studies during schooling helped a great deal during my interviews. I also had internships every year,” she said, adding that she also was “heavily involved within the student organizations in Poole College of Management. Since I had only two years at State, I grabbed every opportunity in leadership and public speaking spaces. I also got help from the (Poole College) career center as much as I could, such as resume critics, mock interviews and networking. All the above resonated and helped me focus on my career goals.”
Kasiviswanathan offered a bit of advice to current Poole College students. “My biggest advice to my fellow Wolfpack friends would be time management. Your college life is very crucial; (it) shapes your future. Use it as wisely as possible. GPA alone will not help you get a job or succeed. Get involved, network and give back!” she said.
“And to the candidates considering Poole College, I would strongly suggest this as the best. I have seen the college grow in so many fields within these two years. The faculty members are very supportive and always recognize for your accomplishments. And I got the best career and student advisor who helped me gain confidence and be who I am today.”
Making a global start
Sarah Adams, originally from Greensboro, N.C., also graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, but with a concentration in marketing. She will be working for Wells Fargo as an international associate.
“This aligns with my goals, as I have always wanted to work for a large, well known company. I am also excited to do something in international business!” she said, noting that she had studied in Reutlingen, Germany during the summer of 2013, following her sophomore year. The EBS Business School at Reutlingen University is one of Poole College’s associated business schools in the International Partnership of Business Schools.
“This was a wonderful international experience,” Adams said. “I had never been out of the country before.” In addition to making new friends and learning about new cultures, she discovered “a new interest for international business.”
Adams also had completed an internship with the corporate office of Lacoste in New York City, in the summer of 2014. “I spent my entire summer there. It was one of the best experiences I've ever had; I was able to learn so much in the New York office and it was a great experience interning for a large company. “
These two experiences, she said, “specifically helped me in getting a job after graduation with Wells Fargo and for launching my future career.”
As a student, Adams said, she took courses in all of the major areas that the college offers – supply chain, marketing, finance, accounting, economics, human resources and IT. That provided a foundation from which she selected marketing, and “from there I was able to take more specific marketing classes to see which area of marketing fit me best.”
Beyond coursework, Adams said networking, interning, and getting international experience were a few of the “huge take-aways” from her college career. “I was a student mentor in Poole College’s Student Network Group where I was able to network and work with business professionals from various companies like EY, Cisco, ACHC and BB&T, helping to plan business professional events for the undergraduate students in Poole. We stressed the importance of networking early and I learned so much by working with the professionals and the freshman students,” she said, adding that she remains in contact with many of the professionals she worked with through the SNGs. “They have helped me throughout my time at NC State.”
Student Network Groups are modeled after corporate affinity groups, providing first-semester students an opportunity to connect with fellow new students, professionals and peer mentors around topics of common interest.
Internships, Adams added, are “especially important.” She said she found both her 2014 internship in New York with Lacoste and her new job with Wells Fargo on ePACK, the online jobs board for recruiters seeking to hire NC State students. Adams encourages all students to take advantage of this resource.
“There are so many companies in so many different industries that post jobs and internships on ePACK that there is something for everyone,” she said. “It's a great website offered to NC State students that makes applying for internships and jobs so easy. Once you find that internship, make sure you make the most of it because experience is everything.”
Adams also found value in her International experience, which she said provides college students “something extra to offer” future employers. “Having that experience on your resume can help set you apart.” The international study programs also open doors to new friendships. “I am still extremely close with everyone who went on the Poole 2013 Germany study abroad trip. That was one of the best decisions I made in college and I learned so much while I was abroad,” she said.
Adams advises current and future students “to get involved and get experience. There are so many organizations on our campus that can offer something unique and special to you,” she said. “NC State has everything you could want from a university and it's crucial that you take advantage of every opportunity presented to you. You never know how much it could impact you and help you later in life.”
Focused on improving processes, engineering new ideas
Evan MacIntyre, from Knoxville, Tenn., also graduated with a bachelor’s in business administration and a marketing concentration and aspires to executive leadership or to have a business of his own. “I love improving processes and engineering new ideas that provide solutions for the customer and grow the business,” he said.
After graduation, MacIntyre’s started a new job as a sales representative for iCiDigital, “a technology enabled digital marketing firm that specializes in enterprise web experience management, user experience, and mobile development. The iCi team provides solutions for migrations, implementations, and overall WEM management. The growing digital marketing space along with a company with incredible, sustainable growth will allow me to learn the market, get valuable experience and work with top-tier leaders within the industry,” he said.
MacIntyre had early exposure to the connection between solutions and business growth, starting with the business he began at age 13, “mowing the neighbors’ lawns with a lawnmower I leased from my father. Over the years, my business grew faster than I could keep up with and eventually evolved into an irrigation system repair and maintenance service that I owned and managed until I sold it in 2012. Owning my own business taught me invaluable lessons like time management, solution selling, customer service, and that incredible opportunity can be in muddy ditches in the August sun,” he said.
Injuries from a car accident led him to sell the irrigation business. He then began working at CarMax as a sales consultant. “CarMax gave me excellent training, feedback and flexibility for a college student,” he said, and taught him “how to better listen to customers to find out what (customers) want and need to close on the sale.”
A management internship with Chick-fil-A “taught me how effective leaders manage and how to retain star employees.” That position was followed by a role as sales director at Firebirds Woodfired Grill in Raleigh where he managed off-site sales and marketing and worked with the chief operating officer to design a customer retention program.
MacIntyre shared three take-aways from his years at Poole College.
- Networking with professors outside of class is absolutely my greatest recommendation. The faculty at Poole has been invaluable mentors, advisors, and many have gone out of their way to network me with businesses that match my interests. Make it a point to go out of your way to make a positive impact and be memorable to your instructors. There is no reason to not utilize the human capital that Poole College provides.
- Find meaningful internships and professional work outside of school. Having professional jobs outside of school will establish you as a hard worker, leader and as someone who get results. School alone or a high GPA is no substitute for proven work experience and metrics proving your effectiveness.
- Utilize the networking that Poole offers. Go to every networking event, resume blitz, guest speaker, and executive series event that you possibly can. I got my job at iCiDigital through an unrelated guest speaker that spoke in one of my marketing classes. When you go to these events, make sure that you are dressed well, have your resume handy and ask questions that prove that you were listening. If you don’t have a good job lined up, work harder, network more and exhaust all leads. The worst thing that can happen is that you get a NO!
For prospective students considering Poole College, MacIntyre said, “There are so many opportunities to plug in with groups like the American Marketing Association (AMA). Associations like these provide real learning and networking experiences that class may not always provide. If you are motivated, hard working and you want to be more than just a student, Poole gives you every opportunity to make impacts inside and out of the classroom.”
He’s serious about the importance of real world work experience. “Do not expect that GPA and education alone will get you your dream job. Your GPA is one of many factors future employers look at. Education along with real-world work experience, metrics and stories about how you made an impact and provided solutions to the company and customers is what the companies are looking for,” he said, adding: “Ask yourself, ‘What makes me different?’ Build on your strengths and diversify your skill sets and there is no reason that you will not find success both during and after college.”
Building her “tool box” from Day One
From a young age, Michelle Miloslavich “dreamt of working for people that inspired me to be better and to grow as a professional.” In time, she learned that “working for a company that gave you the tools to better yourself was just as important as working for inspiring people.”
Miloslavich, who graduated with a bachelor’s in economics this May, is starting her career as a risk management consultant for Deloitte, a company that she said “has an immense amount of growth opportunities and learning tools available for employees. They are strongly committed to their employees and offer programs to expand in diversity and cultural knowledge as well as community outreach.”
She credits Poole College’s M100 course – professionalism, diversity and academic success in management – with providing her “all the basic skills I needed to know to apply for my first job and succeed as a student. I learned the importance of my ‘tool box’ and how to acquire all the skills necessary to be successful as a young professional.”
Another takeaway from her NC State experience is the university’s diversity and culture. “I was able to learn from different campus leaders from different parts of the world and be inspired by them,” she said. “NC State gives you the opportunity to represent your culture, your beliefs and share them with the rest of the campus. Thanks to this open mind about culture I was able to be a founding member of the Association of Latino Professionals for America with five other students in spring 2014.”
A third takeaway for Miloslavich was the relationships she built the faculty, staff and peers at Poole College. “All academic advisors were always willing to help and go above and beyond for their students. I built strong relationships with a lot of my professors and look forward to sharing my experiences and continuing to learn from them,” she said.
When Miloslavich moved to Raleigh, N.C., from Venezuela in 2013, she had no previous work experience, but that did not stop her from completing two internships.
“I was able to get my first job through ePACK at a small company in Cary and worked there throughout the summer. The following semester I became a SNG (Student Network Group) Mentor for the M100 class, and I joined Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity. Both of these organizations allowed me to develop my leadership skills and gain the confidence I needed to obtain my Wells Fargo internship for the summer of 2013.” Her internship in the Internal Audit Department of Wells Fargo’s community banking group in Charlotte, N.C., enabled her to “put into practice a lot of the previous knowledge I had learned in my finance and macroeconmic courses, since my work was related to banking regulations adopted internationally after the 2008 economic crisis.” These experiences enabled her to gain the skills needed for her new role with Deloitte.
“I (also) would advise future Poole students to get involved with the college’s clubs, organizations and events,” Miloslavich said. “It is important to make connections with people that share the same goals as you and that will be able to help you with your career in the long run. Furthermore, you gain skills you will need in the workforce that will differentiate you from the rest of the crowd. Make connections, and you will find yourself surrounded by awesome people that may become your mentors or best friends. GO WOLFPACK!”
Note: This story was updated May 19, 2015. Additional student testimonials will be added as they are submitted.
Read about Poole College 2015 commencement weekend celebrations and view photos on Flickr.
