When Athenian Alexandra Sanchez ’14 graduated from Whittier College, she began her career journey by reaching out to her Poet society alumni network. She connected with Orthogonian Stephen McAskill ’96, who recommended her for a position at the company he was working for at the time. After a rigorous interview process, she landed the job.
Four years later, Sanchez and McAskill are still coworkers, now at the Branded Group, a facilities management company based in Orange County. Sanchez is a successful sales manager and McAskill is the operations manager, overseeing three teams and about 30 accounts, including retail facility maintenance for Apple.
Inspired by her own experience, Sanchez reached out to her younger Athenian sisters. With her mentorship and guidance, Jenna Dominguez ’16 and Melissa Perez ’17 joined the Branded Group this past year. Dominguez is a sales representative and Perez works primarily in accounts receivable but has branched out into marketing—taking on the role of developing a social media presence for the company.
“As an English major, I like to write and create content, so that’s how I sold it,” adds Perez.
Being a good communicator and a self-starter are two things Perez learned at Whittier. McAskill added that being a member of a society gave him an additional set of skills.
“You learn to show up, give 100 percent, you don’t quit because it’s going to be rough,” he said. “And you’re going to get hammered with criticism, if it applies to you, chew it up and swallow it. If it doesn’t, you just let it roll off your back you don’t let it bother you. So those three things in particular really prepared me for my role now.”
Just like these four Poet alumni, hundreds of alumni returned to campus last year to participate in social and professional networking events. According to Ana Gutierrez ’96, Athenian alumna and associate director of alumni programs and giving, networking should be a life-long process.
“We have alumni who come back to campus every year to reconnect with fellow graduates, professors, and staff and to mentor current students,” she said. “Your Whittier degree is more valuable when you factor in how extensive the Poet network is.”
Sanchez adds that it’s never too late to network. “Keep putting yourself out there and stay involved with the College. Your Whittier network never dies.”