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The Atlanta Career Trek kicked off with a business breakfast where students had the opportunity to network with alumni.<\/p><\/div>\n
Payne came to Furman from the University of San Diego in the spring of 2017, in part because of the new ideas she brought to her new position. One of those is the concept of students getting the opportunity to learn about career opportunities through visits to companies and introductions to professionals working there.<\/p>\n
Only Greenville has more Furman alumni than the greater Atlanta area, and few cities can boast being home to multi-billion dollar companies like Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-A and The Home Depot. Throw in a strong Paladin presence at each, and Georgia was the logical choice to test out the Career Treks vision on a full scale \u2013 especially once it became clear that Furman graduates were more than willing to help.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes a challenge for a smaller school is employers aren\u2019t as likely to come to your campus, so I think this is a chance for our students to still make connections at these Fortune 500-type companies by us taking them there,\u201d Payne says. \u201cLast year I had started doing some research on companies in the Atlanta area and getting a sense from students about what companies they might be interested in visiting \u2026 It all began with making some initial contacts with our alumni at these organizations, and they were all super enthusiastic about collaborating with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
After meeting more than a hundred alumni at the Business Breakfast, which was held in the Buckhead Club on the top floor of the 26-story Sovereign Building, the students headed to Coca-Cola in the heart of midtown. That was followed by a drive to Chick-fil-A\u2019s wooded campus near the airport and capped by a tour of The Home Depot, just off I-285 near SunTrust Park, home of the Atlanta Braves.<\/p>\n
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Furman alumna Lauren Schneider \u201908 coordinated the tour of Chick-fil-A headquarters.<\/p><\/div>\n
Each stop featured a guided tour followed by a question-and-answer session with alumni working in the buildings. Chris Haines \u201911, a finance leadership associate, spearheaded the students\u2019 behind-the-scenes look at Coca-Cola, while Lauren Schneider \u201908 organized the Chick-fil-A visit and Nick Millette \u201912 did the heavy lifting at The Home Depot.<\/p>\n
Haines, a longtime member of the Young Alumni Council, was eager to provide an opportunity he hadn\u2019t had at Furman.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo make something like that happen for the students with the relative lack of effort it would take me versus the impact it could have on them, it seemed like a bit of a no-brainer,\u201d he says. \u201cI was really trying to drive home that\u00a0at a bigger company people are looking for cross-functional skills \u00a0\u2026 I think a lot of students are trying to find that perfect role, and sometimes you just need to find a way to get past the front door and find different opportunities open for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haines was a political science major at Furman, while Schneider, a business administration major, is now a senior consultant on brand strategy and media. Millette, also a business administration major, is now a manager in assortment planning. Realizing his degree doesn\u2019t necessarily lock him into a career path was music to DeSantis\u2019 ears.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am extremely relieved, because I\u2019m not sure if I want to go to grad school or not, so it\u2019s nice to know that when I enter the workforce, it\u2019s the skills I learn at Furman that are going to be more applicable than my major per se,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n