Career Moves: SPDC resources help Elon seniors land future roles at Goldman Sachs

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A number of students from the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business who are graduating this spring will find their starting point in the finance industry working at Goldman Sachs, a leading global investment banking, securities, and investment management firm.

Among them are seniors who tapped into the resources at the Student Professional Development Center as they pursued the start to a new career. John Carroll from Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Dora Muratovic from Orlando, Florida, Emma Ott, from Eighty-Four, Pennsylvania, Max Pivonka from Cleveland, Ohio, and Carly Struyk from Wayne, New Jersey credit SPDC professionals and others, who are invested in their success, with realizing the importance of building relationships in crafting future career plans.

These five students are featured in the Career Moves series of profiles on the recent experience of students and alumni who work alongside professionals in the Student Professional Development Center to explore career interests, build strong resumes, find job and internship opportunities, prep for interviews, craft graduate school application materials, and more.

These Elon seniors recently answered questions from the SPDC about their experience.

Who did you work within the Student Professional Development Center to prepare, and what help did you receive?

“Nancy Carpenter helped me to understand my professional skill-set and has allowed me to develop skills that are necessary for my career, as a Student Employment Office Assistant.  As a sophomore and junior, Jan Pagoria helped me to identify internship opportunities that were a good fit for these skills. Brooke Buffington, Danielle Golinski, and Rachel Rysz all helped me to craft my résumé and application cover letters to best convey these skills to hiring managers, which I hadn’t realized the importance of when I first started at Elon.” — John Carroll 

“I worked closely with Brooke Buffington, Jan Pagoria, and Danielle Golinski who helped me update my resume, prepare for interviews, and answered questions that I had. Jan Pagoria helped me draft an email response to accept an interview and Brooke Buffington conducted a mock interview with me to help me prepare for the interview, and provided tips and tricks to prepare, and helped me formulate answers to typical questions, so my answers would showcase my abilities well.” —  Dora Muratovic 

 “I started going to the SPDC my first year mainly for resume reviews as I was applying for on-campus jobs. I worked with Brooke Buffington, Danielle Golinski, Jan Pagoria, Rachael Rysz, and Debby Wall as I was searching/preparing for summer 2017 internship opportunities. When I received a first-round interview for a summer 2018 internship Brooke Buffington referred me to an Elon parent, and offered advice and support throughout my internship with Goldman and after I accepted the full-time job.” — Emma Ott 

“I worked with Brooke Buffington, Cindy Sweeney, Danielle Golinski, Rhonda Kosusko and Rachel Rysz for help editing my resume, revising my cover letters, reviewing my LinkedIn profile, discussing possible career paths, and connecting with Elon alumni and parents in the industries I was interested in. Informational conversations helped me be more prepared for interviews and gave me a better idea about what I wanted to do after graduation.” — Max Pivonka

“I have been able to cultivate close relationships with each advisor in the office over the past three years, which has been such a blessing. I think of it like having my own “Board of Directors” for my professional development, with each advisor providing specific areas of advice to me. From preparing for interviews and debriefing afterward to looking over offer letters with me, I have received extremely helpful insight and encouragement from the advisors at the Porter Family Professional Development Center.” — Carly Struyk

What recommendations would you share with other students about the Student Professional Development Center?

“As someone who came into Elon without many connections to the business world, visiting early helped me build my professional network, create a strong resume, and identify my ideal career paths well before I was ready to apply for internships as a junior. Rapport is incredibly important – an advisor who knows you well and is fully aware of what you’re capable of will be more inclined to help you, as Jan Pagoria and Brooke Buffington especially were to me. It took me a long time to find an internship for my junior year summer, but because I had been communicating with both of them so much, they helped connect me to multiple firms that I was then invited to interview at.” — John Carroll 

“Make an appointment as soon as possible with a career advisor – possibly even before seriously looking for an internship/job. In this way, you can familiarize yourself with the services that the Center provides as well as begin building a relationship with one (or a couple) career advisors.” — Dora Muratovic 

“Come early, come often! It’s never too early to begin working on your LinkedIn account, practice interviewing, etc. I would also recommend attending the events the SPDC hosts, such as Sophomore Success and the Job & Internship Expos, as I’ve found them to be beneficial as well.” — Emma Ott 

“Utilize the resources the SPDC has to offer more frequently. Every time I go, I uncover a new way to improve how I am presenting myself to my professional network and potential employers. These improvements have given me confidence in sending my resume and connecting with professionals and well worth the time commitment.” — Max Pivonka 

“Start working on your professional development now. Whether a student is a freshman without a resume, or a sophomore beginning the internship hunt, the advisors are ready and excited to help students in any way they can. It is imperative for students to champion their professional development, and getting the necessary support and guidance is an important catalyst in that process. The first step is making an appointment and taking ownership of one's professional development journey.” — Carly Struyk 

What have you learned from the experience?

“I learned to be more comfortable talking about my skill set. Interviewing for competitive roles with other candidates who were better able to present their strengths, and not being able to emphasize my own put me at a disadvantage.” — John Carroll 

“I learned that it is essential to have a close relationship with a career advisor who truly understands what you are looking for, can help you highlight your strengths, and will be with you through every step of the application process and/or as you transition from a first-year to a graduating senior.” — Dora Muratovic 

“I learned the staff at the SPDC is more than willing to help us students, but you need to make an effort to put yourself out there and be willing to ask for help.” — Emma Ott 

“When I first visited the SPDC, I felt that I had a decent grasp of how to make a strong resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile.  With each visit, I have become more and more confident in these documents and profiles, as well as my understanding of what about each makes them strong.  I think one of the biggest misconceptions about the SPDC is that after one visit everything will be perfect – the more you visit, the better everything will be.” — Max Pivonka 

“The Elon community is truly a family. Our community is replete with individuals who want to see students succeed, and it is so important to utilize every resource we have accessible to us at Elon. I have been fortunate enough to have many stakeholders invested in my success. It is the mentorship and sponsorship of such people who have helped me to achieve my goals, and for that, I am very grateful. I look forward to the opportunity to give back to future Elon students in the same way.” — Carly Struyk 

How did your interest in Goldman Sachs develop?

“During my sophomore and junior years I spoke to alumni who worked at Goldman Sachs who described it in a positive light, he also connected me with his colleagues and I continued to hear very similar descriptions of the firm. What really interested me was how team-oriented the firm is and how much responsibility first-year analysts are trusted with, both of which were traits that made a company ideal to me.” — John Carroll

“I was interested in Goldman Sachs because of the services it offers, its size, and its global presence. After two years of interning at Goldman Sachs, I am still interested in taking this path because of the organization's structure, the opportunities for growth and success, and the people I have been fortunate enough to meet.” — Dora Muratovic 

“Through informational interviews/networking and internship interviews, I realized that careers in the Risk division include a combination of math and business and since I’m naturally fairly risk-averse it seemed like a good fit. Going into summer 2018, I was interested in interning at a financial institution and knew Goldman Sachs had a very strong reputation. I also liked that their Risk Analyst interns work on three teams, allowing you to see multiple lines of business.” — Emma Ott 

“Goldman Sachs embodied many of the values that drew me to Elon. I knew that working at a bulge bracket bank would give me exposure to a wide range of career paths and constant opportunities to learn. During my internship, I was impressed by their investment in employees, through online training courses to help build your professional skill-set and the number of employees who had the opportunity to work abroad on long-term and short-term assignments.” — Max Pivonka 

“Goldman Sachs has an incredibly strong brand in the world of financial services, and as someone passionate about pursuing a career in wealth management, I knew it was a firm that would serve as an excellent springboard to my future. The company has a notable standard of excellence, and I know I will be mentored and encouraged to grow both personally and professionally. As I spoke with individuals around the firm, I was able to see a clear alignment between my values and those of Goldman Sachs. My interviews really validated that notion, and I am extremely excited to know that I will be joining a firm that values me as both an employee and a person.” — Carly Struyk 

Tell me about your experience in landing a position at Goldman Sachs. 

“I learned about Goldman Sachs’s recruiting process through employees of the firm, some of whom are Elon alumni. I submitted my application in July, had a digital interview in September, and had one final interview a couple of weeks after that, and received an offer within a week.

I found the superday interviews to be really enjoyable. The experience included a series of multiple 30-minute conversations with two to three interviewers each, held back-to-back, and in my case, all three interviews were very fit-focused and conversational. Learning to emphasize my skill set and dedicating multiple hours preparing helped me have informed conversations, and reinforced my interest in Goldman Sachs.” — John Carroll 

“I saw the posting on Elon Jobs Network and applied in October. I used tools that I learned from meetings with Brooke Buffington, Jan Pagoria and Danielle Golinski to help prepare for interviews. I completed practice interview questions, did a lot of research on the company, showcased my abilities, and who I am as a person to land the two-year internship and the full-time job offer. 

 “I completed the first step interview through HireVue in November and had an in-person interview in December. I received an offer within one week of the interview.” — Dora Muratovic 

“Through interning with Goldman Sachs, I realized how much I enjoyed the people, company culture, and type of work I was doing (credit risk). Goldman has a culture of success and excellence and is full of intelligent people who enjoy a challenge.” — Emma Ott 

“With help from the SPDC, I was able to structure resumes that were suited for Sales and Financial Services industry internships. Before interviewing with Goldman Sachs, I utilized LinkedIn to connect with alumni at the firm, and prepared for my interviews using techniques I learned from working with the SPDC.  This made me feel much more confident going into my interviews.

“After getting the internship, I continued connecting with alumni and Elon parents to prepare for the opportunity and helped me feel ready to hit the ground running when I got to Goldman Sachs for the summer. As a result, I was able to be a top performer and switch into a role more aligned with my professional interests.” — Max Pivonka 

“The application/hiring process with Goldman Sachs was truly wonderful. It distinguished itself for me in that there was a great deal of personal interaction from the commencement of the process. Before my superday, an employee reached out to me to coach me for my interview. This really humanized the process for me and made me feel much more comfortable going into the superday. I had absolutely incredible experiences speaking with each of my interviewers, and when I left the office, I knew it was a place to which I hoped to return as an employee.” — Carly Struyk