College Experiences That Helped A Contracts Associate Director At An Aerospace And Defense Company Succeed
Daria, an Associate Director at a Fortune 500 company, emphasizes three key college success strategies: creating a concise, impactful one-page resume to stand out amongst many applicants ("hiring manager getting a million college grad resumes"), prioritizing interview experience over GPA ("it really doesn't matter"), and conducting numerous real interviews starting early in their undergraduate career to master the process.
Job Search, Resume Building, Interview Skills, Career Development, GPA Importance
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Daria Sayan
Associate Director, Contracts
Fortune 500 Aerospace & Defense Company
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Arizona, MBA
Legal & Policy, Business Management & Admin
Aerospace, Aviation & Defense, Government & Public Sector
Operations and Project Management
International Student, Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School
Video Highlights
1. Craft a concise, one-page resume that stands out.
2. GPA is less crucial than practical experience and interview skills.
3. Practice interviewing extensively, ideally with real hiring managers, starting in your junior year.
Transcript
What did you do in undergrad to set you up for success?
Here's the cleaned transcript:
Number one, make sure your resume is one page and looks good. It needs to differentiate itself in some way, because hiring managers are getting a million college grad resumes. You have to set yourself apart and do not go over one page. You haven't done enough to go over one page.
Okay, that's number one. Number two: your GPA really isn't that important. I wish I hadn't spent so much time focusing on having a perfect GPA; it didn't even matter. I was competing against people with 3.6s and 3.7s. It doesn't matter.
It really doesn't matter in graduate school too. There might be a controversial opinion, but it's back. And then last was definitely doing a lot of interviews. I started interviewing a lot really early on, specifically by junior year, just to get the experience under the belt.
They all kind of ask similar questions, especially experiential questions. So you start to have really smooth, good answers to them. I recommend putting yourself in those situations, in real situations, not mock interviews where there isn't a stressful environment. Do real interviews with real hiring managers. That really set me up pretty well.