EES Career World: A Look into Professional Life after College
College is the time of our lives when we discover and learn more about ourselves. At the very least, our academic institutions help guide us towards the start of our lives as career people. At the end of our college life lies our infinite choices and potential in the professional world. EES’ Career World helped its attendees meditate on the possibilities of their future.
On the 28th of September this year, Enderun Entrepreneurs Society (EES) held the EES’ Career World Event, a webinar allowing college students to peek into the professional career world. In its core motive, the talk featured Enderun alumni and their stories about how they reached their current career milestone. Two speakers, Ms. Sophia Aquino and Ms. Ina Martelino, tell of their journeys to their present.
Ms. Sophia Aquino, Valedictorian and Summa cum Laude of Enderun’s Batch 2021, talked about her journey from a P&G Customer Replenishment Intern to Customer Replenishment Manager for the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa regions of the company. While this was not the first career talk that Ms. Sophia gave to the Enderun community, she provided more insight into building your career path from college to internship to your first actual job. She emphasized the reality of a career path that was more turbulent than linear but definitely worth it.
Her talk focused on the challenges of working in a big company with people one might deem more qualified than oneself. She shared her initial insecurity, working with people that have years of experience that were as much as her age in years.
However, the highlight of her journey was the steps she took to overcome the challenges that came throughout. She told the audience about the importance of identifying their passions and skills. Her interest in technology and supply chain management led her to look into companies where she could practice her interest and share her values – P&G. She then shared the essence of creating a resumé that fits what you and your target company need. Then, she shared tips on how to ace your interview, revisiting the CAR method from one of her previous talks. She ends her talk by telling Titans to believe in themselves and to keep on learning. She shared her most significant learning after going through one of her greatest challenges:
“It’s okay to be a beginner at the things you are interested in. There is no reason to feel intimidated by people more advanced than you are because they, too, were in your place at one point.”
Ms. Ina Martelino then talked about her journey from a big company to her successful start-up, which had a recent boom. After graduation, she was able to get into a big production agency but decided to boldly quit her job and start Sproos to address a gap in the content production market. While the company grew slowly, they eventually grew big enough to get their studio. When the pandemic arrived, they took advantage of the home-setting. They launched Sproos Spotlight, a content creation program for small businesses, which gave traction to building a community for the company.
The essence of her journey was proper habits and self-care throughout the whole process of being an entrepreneur. She emphasized taking care of yourself, your team, and your customer. She also mentioned keeping your connections and staying respectful; from annoying college groupmates to plain bad customers, know and keep to your brand. One of the most meaningful quotes from her story was:
“Be confident in your abilities. Know that you got yourself to where you are, but never let that bring overconfidence. There’s always something to learn.”
Aside from the talks, there was also an icebreaker and Q&A portions in between. The icebreaker showed the variety of after-college goals of Titans, while the Q&A showed their enthusiasm in planning for their careers. The questions were nicely geared towards asking about first jobs, life after Enderun, and the like; one could see the eagerness of the attending Titans to seek their post-pandemic professional life.
We learn of the diligence of our Titan alumnae, and we are encouraged to imitate and apply principles from their stories. Despite their stressful first-times, unforeseen hurdles, and new environments, they were able to push through and get to where they are now. Truly an inspiration to us all!
