Morgan Scott '14

Name: Morgan Scott

Major: Psychology, Minor American Sign Language

Class of: 2014

Job Title: Associate Centralized Recruiter for Speedway LLC

Hometown: Dayton, OH

Currently Located: Columbus, OH

This interview was conducted in person and this blog post was written by an intern for the CCPD.

1) What is your job?

Morgan is in charge of hiring the professional for 11 Speedway stores in the Central Ohio Location. She specializes in hiring customer service representatives and shift leader trainees. She has been with Speedway for 6 months and really enjoys her current position.

2)  What has life been like post-graduation?

After not being able to find a job in the Columbus area, she moved back home to Dayton. In her own words, “I felt like I did everything right, I went to school, completed an internship, I graduated on time, and was actively seeking employment but could not find anything.” She is extremely grateful for the help that the CCPD provided her as an alumni. Since then she was able to move back to Columbus, learn what it’s like to be in a professional setting and also discovering herself as a young professional.

3)  What advice do you have for current students?

“Enjoy your last year! It goes by so fast! Being back on campus has filled me with such nostalgia for my time here!” Morgan expressed her bittersweet feelings of how fast time has gone by. She also wishes she would have pursued more classes that would have given her more experience in Human Resources (HR). She recommends students find out what they want to do early on and if possible, take classes that will pertain to their career. Ideally, also obtain internships to give them hands on experience in the field.

4)  How has your vision of your future transformed or changed?

Upon leaving Otterbein, Morgan was no longer living in the same community as her friends. Staying connected to them was more of a challenge than originally anticipated. On a professional note, Morgan originally wanted to major in nursing but changed to psychology during her time at Otterbein. She became interested in HR after taking a class in the Business department and that is the field she is currently pursuing.

5)  What are the most important skills students in your field should start to develop now?
"Networking! The more people you know the better, use resources that Otterbein provides you with. I can't begin to describe how much Dr. Eskew has helped me!" She recommends developing a professional rapport because they have many connections and experiences that are worth your time to getting to know them.

6)  What are your plans and goals for the future?

When asked this question, Morgan took a minute to answer as she looked dreamily into the distance. She hopes to have an MBA soon as well as being at least two steps up professionally from her current position. "In 5 years, I might still be in Columbus, but ultimately I hope to be happy professionally, married, and still just figuring our life and taking it one step at a time."

Dom Porretta '13

Name: Dominic Porretta
Major: Journalism
Class of: 2013
Job Title: Analyst at Duff & Phelps
Hometown: Westerville, OH
Currently Located: New York, NY

1) What is your job?
          I work in the Corporate Finance group at Duff & Phelps, which covers the firm’s investment banking activities including both Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory and Transaction Opinions. We advise companies in sell-side and acquisition transactions and issue fairness and solvency opinions to boards of directors of companies for a variety of corporate transactions in industries including Industrials, Consumer & Retail, Real Estate, and Healthcare, among others.

2)  What has life been like post-graduation?
          As quickly as the four years in Westerville go, time goes even quicker after graduation.
Life post-graduation has been mostly spent learning, believe it or not. While Otterbein
does a tremendous job establishing the building blocks for success, no education can
fully prepare you for what you learn on the job through real-world experience. I have
spent my time trying to immerse myself in as many professional learning experiences as
I can in an effort to acquire as much hands-on knowledge as possible.

3)  What advice do you have for current students?
          Start to think about crafting your “story” today. There are a lot of resumes of students
from very good schools with excellent grades and strong extracurricular activities.
Today, it seems as if that’s almost table stakes; the ability to communicate an engaging
story around why you are pursuing the career you are while weaving in those
experiences from that strong resume to connect the dots is a big differentiator.

4)  How has your vision of your future transformed or changed since starting college?
          I came to Otterbein wanting to become a sports journalist and graduated heading to
business school as a platform to get into finance. My time at Otterbein showed how fluid
life is and how rewarding it can be to embrace those potential changes.

5)  What are the most important skills students in your field should start to develop now?
          For banking, having a mastery of the technical concepts of finance is important. Outside
of the classroom, taking courses like Wall Street Prep or Training the Street can help
ramp up those technical skills outside of the general finance courses taught on campus.
Beyond that, the most important skill in my opinion is communication, which is true in
any client-centric or team-based job.

6)  What are your plans and goals for the future?
          Right now my focus is on the short-term. While I hope to continue to progress in my
career, I am mostly focused on learning as much as possible to position myself for
success in the future. Long-term, my goal is to one day reach the executive level.

7) What Otterbein experience has benefitted you the most in your career?
          The Otterbein experience that benefitted me the most in my career was being a member
of the Otterbein baseball team for four years. I have found that the values of being a
member of a collegiate athletic team transcend the playing field and directly correlate to
the workplace: teamwork, time management, goal setting, work ethic, resilience to
adversity, etc. Not only did it instill the aforementioned values, but it also led to
involvement in a number of direct leadership experiences including student
organizations and community service initiatives that I believe were instrumental post-
graduation.

Kristen Bennett '12

Name: Kristen Bennett

Major: Speech Communication

Class of: 2012

Job Title: Brand Media Coordinator

Hometown: Wadsworth, OH

Currently Located: Fort Worth, TX

1) What is your job?

          "I’m a media planner at an advertising agency in downtown Fort Worth, and it’s an amazing job!  I have the opportunity to work with some amazing brands to assist in their digital advertising efforts.  I can truly say that I enjoy getting up every morning and coming into work."

2)  What has life been like post-graduation?

          "It hasn’t always been easy or even enjoyable, if I’m being honest, but I soon learned that’s just part of the journey.  One of the most difficult things for me, having been so active in college, was adjusting to a sit-down, desk job. Now that I’ve made a cross-country move to Texas and landed a dream job, life finally feels like it’s all starting to come together, and I’m loving every minute of it."

3)  What advice do you have for current students?

          "Take advantage of every opportunity that is afforded to you as students of Otterbein University. Networking is one of the most important skills students can have, as a great deal of career opportunities come to fruition as a result of who you know.  Prepare for post-graduation as early as possible through career development courses, informational interviews, networking, and internships.

4)  How has your vision of your future transformed or changed?

          "I had absolutely no idea where I wanted to end up career-wise in the future when I first graduated college.  Now that I’ve had several years of experience, I’ve honed in on a career path that I never thought would be in my future: education.  I feel so fortunate to have attended a college with as many real-world experiences and opportunities as Otterbein, so I want to be able to provide these same opportunities to college students.

5)  What are the most important skills students in your field should start to develop now?

          "Interviewing skills, hands down.  There are a ton of people that graduate with degrees in Communications or a similar field.  Why should you be hired over someone else?  It’s vital that you have the ability to talk positively of yourself in an interview and sell the potential future employer on why you would make a valuable asset to their team.

6)  What are your plans and goals for the future?

          "One of the most important things to me is that I’m helping others by making a measurable difference.  My long term goal is to work at a college, whether it be in an Admissions Office or as a Professor because I want to help students discover their passions and get them started on pursuing their career aspirations.  Outside of my career goals, I want to have a family, spend more time volunteering, and continue to purse athletic/fitness endeavors."

Devon Causey '15

Name: Devon Causey

Major: Psychology,  Religion Minor

Class of: 2015

Hometown: Findlay, OH

Currently Located: Pittsburgh, PA

1)  What has life been like post-graduation?

               "Life post-graduation has been a whirlwind of learning, discovery, and changes. I moved to Pittsburgh where I began working at Pace School. Pace is a school for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and behavioral challenges. I worked the summer program at Pace, which was a huge learning experience in the field of special needs education. I am currently working full time at Pace School in a mostly non-verbal classroom."  

                

2)  What advice do you have for current students?

               "Start exploring different areas in your field to figure out what types of jobs you are most interested in. Make connections with professors, alumni, and professionals in your desired field who will give you support when you begin looking for jobs. Another piece of advice is to apply to multiple places so that you have options when the job offers come."

3)  How has your vision of your future transformed or changed?

               "My vision of the future is still unclear. I like my job working with kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder, but I am still not sure if it is what I will pursue long term. It is a great experience and something that will help   me continue to develop my vision for the future."

4)  What are the most important skills students in your field should start to develop now?

               "Patience – If you have a job in any field where you are working with kids, you need to have patience. Patience is especially important when working with children with special needs.       

               Teamwork – This is a skill that is very important in most fields, but especially if you plan to work in a school or school-type environment.

               Time Management/Organization – If you are working in a setting like mine where you keep track of behavioral/skill tracking data you need you need to have time management and organizational skills.  

               Communication – You will be communicating daily with your team members, your supervisors, other employees, and clients."

              

5)  What are your plans and goals for the future?

               "My goal is to continue gaining experience in my field and figure out what it is that I want to do for   the rest of my life. Right now my plans are to finish the school year at my current job and figure out my next move. Possibilities include going to grad school, moving to a new city, and so many more!"