Tag: choosing a career

A Day in the Life: Web Design & Marketing

Read Jillian Kuhn’s archived tweet feed here: http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/JillianKuhn_Feed.pdf

There’s more to websites than meets the eye – Who built the site? What is the site’s goal? What are the results?  On Thursday, February 24th, alum Jillian Kuhn will tweet for @PennCareerDay about her day with Viget Labs.  If you’re interested in web design, marketing or growing a business online – follow Jillian this week! Learn more about Jillian below.

Jillian Kuhn

Jillian Kuhn is a web project manager for Viget Labs (http://www.viget.com), a mid-sized agency that specializes in web and mobile visual design, development, user experience design, and marketing.

As a project manager, Jillian is responsible for project planning and execution. She is the lead consultant — overseeing the budgets, schedules, strategy, and deliverables of her team, as well as managing client communication.

On any given day, Jillian is actively leading several diverse projects. Her clients range from non-profits to start-ups to big brands, and they span industries from entertainment to healthcare to higher education.

Jillian graduated magna cum laude from the School of Arts and Sciences with a B.A. in Communication. Prior to working with the web, Jillian was a television promotions producer for local news affiliates.

To connect with Jillian, follow her on Twitter – @jillyk, or find her on LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/jilliankuhn.

A Day in the Life: Environmental Advocacy Group

Read Charley Dorsaneo’s archived tweet feed here: http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/CharleyDorsaneo_Feed.pdf

Here at Penn Career Services, we are dedicating special attention to careers in sustainability and the environment next week in line with Penn’s theme – Year of Water. On Tuesday, February 15th, Charley Dorsaneo (SAS ’10) will tweet throughout the day about his job as the Clean Energy Associate with PennEnvironment, a statewide, citizen-funded environmental advocacy group.

Charley Dorsaneo (SAS '10)

Charley joined PennEnvironment in August of 2010 and is in his first year of a two year fellowship program with Environment America, a federation of state-based environmental groups of which PennEnvironment is a member. As the Clean Energy Associate, he works to pass statewide legislation to promote renewable energy like wind and solar across the Commonwealth.

PennEnvironment’s mission is to protect Pennsylvania’s water, air, and open spaces. With roughly 50,000 members and activists across the state, PennEnvironment works to advocate for strong environmental policy by showing our state legislators that Pennsylvanians care about their environment.

Since Charley has been on staff, he has been working to pass legislation that would promote green building technology across the state, increase Pennsylvania’s solar requirement, and allow for the construction of an offshore wind farm on Lake Erie.

Charley received a B.A. in Politics, Political Science, and Economics (PPE) from the University of Pennsylvania.

If you want to hear first hand what other career paths are, attend our panel Traditional & New Directions in Environmental Careers on Wednesday, February 16th at 4pm in Houston Hall’s Golkin Room.

For resources to help explore a career in sustainability and the environment, visit our Career Exploration page.

Guest Perspective: Advice From A Recent Grad

by Sara Fleisher, W ’09

While studying marketing and management as an undergraduate at Wharton, I was never quite sure where I would end up after graduation.  I thought about going into advertising, retail, project management, marketing, management consulting – anything and everything in those related fields. Thankfully, I had the opportunity to explore each and every one of these areas through Penn Career Services’ career fairs and information sessions.

It was during Career Link in the fall of my senior year that I first discovered Rosetta. It was a smaller company that I hadn’t really heard of before, but the work they were doing really resonated with me. It was the combination of consulting, marketing, and agency work that won me over. Following Career Link, I attended the Rosetta information session in Huntsman Hall where I had the opportunity to speak more one-on-one with some consultants. Talking to current employees allowed me to get a feel for the culture at Rosetta, which I have since learned is a major reason why it is a great place to work. Before I even had the opportunity to interview, I knew Rosetta was the place for me.

After an on-campus interview and then a super day of interviews, both case and behavioral, I received my offer from Rosetta. With very little hesitation, I accepted and eagerly looked forward to starting in August 2009.

In my 16 months since starting at Rosetta, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a variety of clients – B2B, healthcare, etc. and projects – strategy, marketing campaigns, quantitative and qualitative research, database building, and product and sales rep tracking. New opportunities and projects constantly pop up, always keeping me on my toes. I have also planned and participated in many internal projects including holiday parties, happy hours, and enhancing our staffing and career development programs. Activities like these foster a strong culture and make working at Rosetta even more enjoyable.

If I could offer any advice to those undergraduates planning their future careers, I would firstly say utilize Penn Career Services as much as you can, not only for career fairs, but for resume and career guidance as well. I would also recommend talking to current employees at whatever companies you are considering (and even some you aren’t), as they can give you the best view into the culture, work-life balance, and overall job satisfaction at the firm. Lastly, choose a company like you chose Penn: a place where you can see yourself growing and succeeding in a comfortable environment.

DO Quit Your Day Job!

A few months ago, I posed a blog called “Don’t Quit Your Day Job…”, in which I spoke about the importance of finding a steady “day job” that allowed you to still pursue the carer of your dreams.

While browsing around my favorite sites this morning, I came across this great video about a man, Paulie Gee, who walked away from thirty years working in I.T. to open his dream business – a pizzeria.


Second Acts by Yahoo! via Slice

What I like about this video is that is shows that it is never too late to go after a dream. Mr. Giannone obviously worked very hard for a long time before deciding to strike it out on his own. I’m inspired by the risk he took in opening his own business and by the obvious joy he has in the decision he made.

A Day in the Life: Educational Non-Profits

Jason Chan
Jason Chan

Read Jason Chan’s archived tweet feed here: http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/JasonChan_Feed.pdf

If you’re interested in education, there are many alternatives to teaching or working in a school, whether it is an elementary school or university.  On Tuesday, September 28th Jason Chan (SAS ’02) will highlight one of these alternatives when he tweets for @PennCareerDay about his career with an educational non-profit.

Jason Chan is the Director of Scholar & Alumni Programs at the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF), where he serves as a student advisor and oversees a portfolio of academic support, leadership development, and community-building programs designed for recipients of the APIASF and Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) scholarship awards.

Prior to APIASF, Jason was a graduate coordinator in both the student conduct and multicultural affairs offices at the University of Maryland-College Park. In addition to advising student organizations and campus leaders, he also facilitated intergroup dialogues and co-taught a course on leadership and race. Jason has also worked at City Year, a national non-profit community service organization, as an AmeriCorps volunteer and a full-time staff member. There, he taught diversity curricula to Boston public school students, managed neighborhood service-learning programs, led teams of volunteers in service, and supported City Year’s recruitment and admissions functions.

 

Jason has a M. Ed. in College Student Personnel from the University of Maryland-College Park, and a B.A. in Psychology and Biological Basis of Behavior from the University of Pennsylvania.

Connect with Jason: