@PennCareerDay – Page 3

Day in the Life: Consulting

@PennCareerDay is back! We’re excited to feature our award-winning, Day in the Life program for the third year on Twitter.

Ever wonder, what is it really like in consulting? What can I expect? What skills should I have and highlight to break into this field? Well, our first @PennCareerDay contributor, Shahbaz Alam, addressed those questions and more on Thursday, September 13th. To learn more about Shahbaz, read his bio below. To read his tweets, check them out on our Storify account.

Shahbaz Alam is a Manager in PwC’s Advisory (Consulting) practice focusing on helping companies improve their technology and operations. Shahbaz’s projects spanned from designing, architecting and implementing large scale technology solutions to helping companies redesign their business processes to assisting companies develop forward looking strategies on how to meet the demands of their changing business and/or regulatory environment.

Shahbaz graduated from Penn in 2007 (and recently attended his 5-year reunion) with a concentration in Operations and Information Manage (OPIM). While at Penn, Shahbaz was an RA for Harrison College House, a Freshman Experience Coordinator for Harrison, PHINS, Wharton Ambassador, College House Alumni Ambassador and worked for the School of Medicine.

Over the last 5 years with PwC, Shahbaz traveled throughout the US to places such as Arkansas, Ohio, Tennessee, Chicago, Orlando, DC, San Francisco and the world (Canada, Mexico, Uruguay, the Netherlands). You can see Shahbaz during his multiple visits to Philly and Penn throughout the school year both in his role as the co-lead for PwC’s Advisory undergraduate recruiting for Penn and as an active alumnus.

In his spare time, Shahbaz enjoys catering to his wanderlust by jet-setting around the world (and calculating how to maximize the miles and points he earns from airlines and hotels), running, finding and eating at new restaurants (especially hole-in-the-walls) and nerding about by reading the NY Times.

Day in the Life: Project Manager for Urban Arts & Entertainment District

Missed Rebecca Chan’s live tweets on @PennCareerDay? You can read her archived tweet feed on Storify.

We’re excited for our upcoming PennDesign Career Connection Day on March 23rd for *PennDesign students only* in architecture, fine arts, landscape architecture, planning and preservation. If you’re interested in these paths, but can’t attend the event – follow @PennCareerDay on Twitter on Thursday, March 22nd. Rebecca Chan will discuss how she combined her passion for historic preservation and creative industries. Read about Rebecca’s background below and remember to follow her on the 22nd!

Rebecca Chan graduated from Penn Design in 2011 with a degree in Historic Preservation. While at Penn, Rebecca augmented her preservation studies by completing coursework in community economic development and public policy. After researching and writing her graduate thesis on the relationship between the creative industries and historic preservation, Rebecca was brought on as a project manager for Station North Arts & Entertainment District in Baltimore, Maryland.

Currently, Rebecca is coordinating the first National Symposium on Arts/Cultural/Entertainment Districts to be held April 4-5th in Baltimore Maryland, as well as one of the largest street art festivals in the country, Open Walls Baltimore, which kicked off March 6th and will run through the end of May.

A Day in the Life: Environmental, Health, and Safety Software

Last year’s Year of Water theme demonstrated the variety of green career paths out there. We are excited to continue to explore these paths during our week focused on Green Careers, leading up to the All Ivy Environmental Career Fair on Friday, February 24th. We welcome alum, Clare Epstein, to @PennCareerDay on Wednesday, February 22nd. Clare will post about her role with TRA, an environmental, health and safety software company. To learn more about Clare, read below and remember to follow her on the 22nd!

Clare Epstein graduated from Penn in 1994 with a Bachelor in Urban Studies and has ended up 18 years later as Vice President of TRA, Inc in charge of the IndustrySafe Safety Management Software. How did her time at Penn help her prepare for her current position? How did she end up 1) working from a home office in the suburbs 2) starting in environmental, health and safety software and 3) managing programmers and developers (among others)- all things she did not anticipate upon graduation and some of which she swore she would never do? Learn what “A Day in the Life” is like for Ms. Epstein as she conducts virtual meetings, participates in webinars and sales demos, utilizes social media and technology for sales and marketing efforts and makes time for “real” non virtual activity in the work day too, like exercising and eating.

Day in the Life: Marketing in the Entertainment Industry with Disney & ESPN Media Networks

We’ll be focusing on Entrepreneurial Careers next week, February 13th-17th leading up to Wharton’s Entrepreneurship Conference. On Tuesday, February 14th we welcome Sasha Mitchell to @PennCareerDay on Twitter! As the Affiliate Marketing Coordinator at Disney and ESPN Media Networks, Sasha is focused on branding, negotiations and other critical pieces to start and run a business. Post your questions to our Facebook page or send us a tweet to @PennCareerServ leading up to February 14^th. Sasha will answer them on @PennCareerDay throughout her day. Read more about Sasha below, and remember to follow her on Tuesday the 14th!

Sasha is the Affiliate Marketing Coordinator at Disney and ESPN Media Networks. Her group, Affiliate Sales and Marketing, is a unique group within The Walt Disney Company, generating tremendous revenue each year by negotiating billion dollar deals with cable, satellite, and teleco providers. Sasha works specifically on the Cable Network Group (CNG) Brand Team, which includes Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, ABC, ABC Family, and SOAPnet. Her counterparts work on the ESPN channels.

Day to day activities include: coordinating the planning, execution and implementation of multiple Affiliate Marketing projects to support the sales and distribution goals with smooth efficiency, Overseeing all aspects of the fulfillment of requested marketing materials including processing, tracking and fielding requests from Account Management teams, writing creative briefs for assigned projects and serving as the liaison with external and internal vendors, and tracking the Affiliate Marketing budgets. She attributes networking and cultivating valuable relationships throughout her college career for getting her “foot in the door” with Disney and ESPN Media Networks.

Sasha graduated from The College in May 2010 with a Economics major and a Mathematics minor.

Branching Out Beyond Art History & East Asian Studies

by Irene Tieh

Before I arrived at Penn in the Fall of 1994, I had to decide on whether I would enroll into Wharton or the College. At that time, I did not have any proof that I knew Chinese (Chinese language classes were rare back then) and had to forego the dual degree Wharton/College program. Everyone I knew told me that the obvious decision would be Wharton but I really wanted the opportunity to find out more about myself at college. Born in Taiwan but raised in Texas, I really wanted to have a better understanding of both eastern and western cultures which was why I decided to major in both Art History and East Asian Studies.

I learned from Professor Nancy Steinhardt that I could submatriculate at the same time and earn a Masters degree by the time I completed my Bachelors. The Fine Arts library granted me my own shelf space since I accumulated such an enormous amount of books for completing both degrees. The ability to read, write, filter and discern vast amounts of information really helped me throughout my career. Most importantly, studying both eastern and western cultures through art and history enabled me to pursue a global marketing career. Each marketing position I took on for either the art, beauty or education industry required me to wear several hats.

Since I double majored and submatriculated at Penn, the extensive demands of those job positions did not overwhelm me. I became more efficient at managing and prioritizing my workload. I also felt more prepared to conduct competitive market research and as well as present findings in a boardroom since I did so much research, writing and presentations at Penn. Furthermore, I had the cross-cultural communication skills that enabled me to work with several different countries and markets at the same time.

Now that I have spent several years marketing products and brands, I am applying my learnings and best practices to help individuals figure out how they can continue to flourish at college or in their career. What matters is not what you majored in during college but what you do with the skill-sets you acquired along the way. Keep learning, nurturing and applying your skills sets!

*Irene Tieh will be contributing to @PennCareerDay on Twitter during our International Careers week (October 17th-21st) to discuss her studies and career in China. Check back next week for Irene’s full bio!