Professionals Provide Insights into Career Paths and Internship and Job Openings at CMC Programs
Eric Yarnik speaks to students at a CMC Employment Information Session.
Career-oriented programs sponsored by the Stuart School of Business Career Management Center (CMC) in April have given students an inside look at a variety of companies and career paths taken by successful professionals.
The Career Pathways by Program series invites individuals to campus to talk about their personal career trajectories with students and provide insights into current industry trends with students.
Katie Fischer, who went from working as broker support on an institutional trading desk to the operations/client-facing side of the finance industry, is now 2nd Vice President of Northern Trust. In addition to telling students about her own career choices and accomplishments, she brought up the importance of “fit” and corporate culture, stressing how technical skills can be taught more easily than soft skills, making the latter highly valued at Northern Trust. Fischer also discussed internships and co-op opportunities at Northern Trust, pertinent application dates, and how students can apply for the positions.
In an interactive session that engaged students with cognitive puzzles, XNtrico Senior Consultant Adrian Alvarado shared his broad knowledge of careers in product management. He described how the role can vary across industries and organizations—ranging from start-ups to giants like Google and Amazon—and can involve developing code and testing as well as aspects of operations and managing clients. Alvarado also spoke about his experiences as an M.B.A. and mechanical engineering student at Illinois Tech.
Other recent Career Pathways guests have included:
- Matthew Scharpf, Vice President of Business Development and Fixed Income at Eurex
- Michael Heberle, Executive Vice President, Head of Marketing Sciences at IPG Mediabrands
- Ellie Lynch, Manager of GIS, Data Integration and Analytics at EN Engineering
Internships and career opportunities are the focus of CMC Employment Information Sessions, as company representatives talk with students about specific openings, expectations, and application processes.
Eric Yarnik, Director of Search and Social Advertising at Perfect Search Media, discussed topics ranging from state-of-the-art analytics tools employees work with at Perfect Search Media to some of the current openings for marketing analytics students. He also went into detail about the application and interview process and the core soft skills and technical competencies needed to build a career at the company.
Other guests in the series during April included:
- Jennifer Spicher, Exam Manager at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Matthew Bardeleben, Director of Marketing Content and Business Development at Peterson Technology Partners
- Michele Aymold, Vice President of Marketing at Parker-Dewey
