Students immerse themselves in career possibilities

MIDDLETOWN — Forty-six Wesleyan students interested in finance, journalism, public health, technology, theater and music had the opportunity to participate in a three-day immersive career exploration program over winter break.

Spearheaded by the Gordon Career Center’s Winter on Wyllys programming, the inaugural New York City Career Trek Jan. 16 to 18 allowed students to travel to New York City and meet and network with Wesleyan alumni at their places of work.

Industry sites included: Citi and Bloomberg for finance; The New York Times and Hearst Communications for journalism; Atlantic Records and BtOVEN MUSIC for music; Pfizer and the National Hemophilia Foundation for public health; Squarespace and Google for tech; and Lincoln Center Theater, New York Stage and Film Company, and Film/Jeffery Richards Associates for theater.

Following their job-shadowing experiences, the students and alumni gathered for a networking dinner in New York City for post-event reflections and discussions. Attendees also learned how to articulate their backgrounds and goals to industry professionals through participation in mind-mapping exercises and how to prepare an elevator pitch.

A networking event with campus staff allowed students to practice what they had learned.

Attendees also enjoyed a lunch hosted by alumni Guy Davidson ’83 and Morgan Harting ’93 at AllianceBernstein and a dinner at the Yale Club, sponsored by Peter Hicks ’72.

Alumni who participated in industry tables included: Vlad Byalik ’95; Noah Schlesinger ’13; Alexander Rachlin ’15; Allyson Feitler ’15; Leah Giacalone ’17; Ali Pourmaleki ’18; Randy Frisch ’84; and Beanie Feldstein ’15.

During the Bloomberg industry trek, students met with financial product analyst and sales representative Westley Myles ’17; diversity recruiting team leader Degan Leopold ’03; talent acquisition associate Tyler Clarke ’18; and supply chain associate Petiri Reed ’17.

At Citi, students met with analyst Jordan Jancze ’18; senior analyst Niall Devaney ’16; investment banking associate Zach Mintz ’15; distressed credit analyst Andrew Jacobs ’17; rates scales analyst Nick Jackson ’18; and equity derivatives trading managing director Dan Baranovsky ’98.

At Google, students met with interaction designer Adam Forbes ’13.

At Squarespace, students met with software engineers Julian Applebaum ’13, Ryan Gee ’11, and Steve Rubinstein ’06.

At Pfizer, students met with medical director Judy Absalon ’90.

At the National Hemophilia Foundation, students met with Kate Nammacher ’99, senior director of education.

At The New York Times, students met with senior video journalist Kassie Bracken ’97 and audience strategy editor Zainab Khan ’13.

At Hearst Communications, students met with freelance writer Lily Herman ’16.

At Atlantic Records, students met with Pete Ganbarg ’88, president of the Artists & Repertoire Division.

At BtOVEN Music, students met with president Brian McKenna ’04.

At Vineyard Theater, students met with artistic director Johanna Pfaelzer ’90; actor Ken Barnett ’94; and managing director Suzanne Appel ’02.

At the Lincoln Center Theater, students met with Kati Koerner ’90, director of education; Sheilaja Rao ’96, manager of patron programs; and Daniel Swee (who attended Wesleyan in 1982), casting director.

Olivia Drake is newsletter editor and campus photographer at Wesleyan University in Middletown. This article originally appeared online at the News @ Wesleyan blog.

Contributed photo During the inaugural New York City Career Trek, hosted by Wesleyan’s Gordon Career Center, several students visited the Lincoln Center Theater to meet with alumni active in the theater industry.