College Experiences That Helped a Senior Financial Analyst at Dexcom Succeed

I'd say the biggest thing, and everyone always says this, but I do think it's true: networking is such a big deal, and there are different ways to do that. It could be as simple as going to career fairs or joining different clubs.

They always have speakers and things of that sort where you can talk to them in person. Or it could be as simple as sending a message on LinkedIn to an alum who just graduated recently, or someone who just got a job at the company you're interested in, and trying to figure out if that's something you want to do.

I tried to lean into that a little more when I was a junior or senior. I figured if I wanted to do corporate finance at Thermo Fisher, I should talk to one or two people. That's kind of how I trickled my way into corporate finance because I talked to a few people and just tried to see if that was something I wanted to do.

In the same fashion, I've talked to people in different roles, like in banking or wealth management, and realized, oh, that's actually not something I want to do. So it goes both ways.

Putting your name out there and trying to talk to as many people as you can helps. You never know if they have an opening at that firm or company that you're interested in. If you're still open to it, you can also get an inside scoop with a referral or whatnot. So, I would say networking is definitely number one.