doing email marketing for the company. “That is the art of networking, of creating a connection, whether with someone you just met or a longtime friend,” Sirabella says. Rauch, chief investment officer with Gitterman & Associates Wealth Management in New Jersey, came to campus last fall to interview students for a paid winter internship at his firm. He has taken interns from other universities in the past and wanted to give Elon students that opportunity. His goal, he says, is to expose businesses in the New York-New Jersey area to Elon students and to give those students access to a network that’s taken him 30 years to develop. He also wants to lead the way and show other parents a different way to be involved. “At this stage, parents have the assets,” he says. “I need to show my son and other Elon students that they are going to have to take the baton from me and do the same thing” for future generations of Elon students.
Helping ‘brothers and sisters’ succeed or many students, the key to a successful career is just getting their foot in the door, and for a growing number of students, that door is opened by Elon alumni. Kristin Hegel ’06 is a one-woman career center for Elon students at FremantleMedia, one of the world’s largest producers and distributors of entertainment. She is associate manager for creative services and has guided more than 20 students in the Elon in Los Angeles program to internships at the company’s North American headquarters in Burbank, Calif. She has developed a strong pipeline to the company’s human resources office over the years. “I get so much amazing feedback from the HR department and the actual departments they’re interning with,” Hegel says. “Elon people are hard working, dedicated and smart. HR loves them—they’re a different class of people.” Every student participating in the Elon in LA program is required to complete an internship, so the demand for placements in professional settings is a big challenge.
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Hegel and many other committed alumni form a powerful and growing Elon network that make the program work. Hegel says she loves to help Elon students build their professional networks because she remembers how tough it was to get started in Los Angeles on her own. Among those she has helped is fellow alumna Andrea Bernick ’11, who is the executive assistant to FremantleMedia’s president for Kids & Family Entertainment division. “I sent Kristin my resume and told her I was really interested in a position,” Bernick recalls. “I kept in contact with her throughout my interview process. I asked her questions and she helped prep me for my interview and gave me the guidance I needed to get familiar with the company.” After Bernick got the job, Hegel took her to lunch and introduced her to others at the office. It wasn’t long before Bernick was in a position to help Elon students get internships at the company. “It’s really awesome because we all look out for each other,” Bernick says. “There are so many people who work in reality television
WHY NETWORKING MATTERS According to a Class of 2012 survey conducted three months after graduation by the Office of Career Services at Elon …
%
of respondents reported they were enrolled in graduate or professional programs
22 the magazine of elon
%
of respondents reported they were employed …
%
%
%
obtained the job lead through an internship
obtained the job lead through family or friends
obtained the job lead through Elon alumni
and of those reporting employment