51视频

07/29/2020
By University Relations Staff

Katie Sanchez 鈥�20 breathed a sigh of relief when she found out in early March that she鈥檇 been accepted into Boston Scientific鈥檚 financial leadership development program. 罢丑别听two-year rotation was scheduled to start in June, one month after Sanchez graduated with a degree in business administration from the Manning School of Business.

Then the coronavirus pandemic hit, and Sanchez was holding her breath again.

鈥淚 was back to square one thinking my job was on the line,鈥� says Sanchez, a Methuen, Mass., resident whose concentrations were in marketing and finance. 鈥淭hat was scary, but聽my manager called me and reassured me that I still had a job.鈥�

With her start date delayed until September, Sanchez is eager to report to work at the medical device company鈥檚 office in Marlborough, Mass. She isn鈥檛 sure yet if she鈥檒l be in聽the office 40 hours a week or doing some work from home. It may not be how she envisioned her first post-college job would take shape, but whatever comes next, she feels聽prepared.

鈥淵ou have to be tough and ready for change. You have to know how to navigate,鈥� she says.聽

Like so many members of the Class of 2020, Sanchez鈥檚 expectations for starting her career were knocked for a loop by COVID-19. The recent graduates entered the job market聽as unemployment was hitting record highs and the economy in a tailspin.

In addition to delayed start dates, many who have found jobs are doing training and onboarding online instead of at corporate headquarters. And instead of settling into their聽cubicles and grabbing lunch with new co-workers, they are participating in Zoom calls from the comfort of their childhood homes. But like Sanchez, they are eager to dive in.

Companies are Hiring, But at a Slower Pace

Despite the millions of people filing for unemployment, companies are still hiring. That鈥檚 the good news. The not-so-good news: Finding and starting a job may take a little聽longer with the hiring process bogged down by the pandemic, says聽Greg Denon, associate dean of student affairs for career development.

鈥淩ecruiting and hiring of 2020 graduates is still happening, but at a slower pace,鈥� he says.

罢丑别听Career and Co-op Center聽has had a 鈥渟teady stream of full-time job postings for recent graduates,鈥� according to Denon, who encourages job-seekers to check them out on聽Handshake, the university鈥檚 career networking and recruiting platform.

Denon notes that, in general, larger companies have been able to stay on track with their hiring.

鈥淭hey often have stronger information technology infrastructure to support and get laptops to new hires, as well as coordinated efforts to integrate remote team members,鈥� he聽says.聽

In April, the Career and Co-op Center pivoted to remote operations for its spring career fair. More than 40 employers 鈥� including Raytheon Technologies, Pfizer, Kronos, Boston聽Children鈥檚 Hospital and Northwestern Mutual 鈥� participated and about 300 students dropped in to connect with them. Denon says five more virtual career fairs are planned for聽the fall semester and are open to current students and alumni.

Joining the Ranks of Remote Workers

A career fair is how聽Manning School of Business graduate Fred Tavarez 鈥�20 first connected with BAE Systems, the defense, security and aerospace company. After a round of聽interviews, he got a job offer as a program control analyst two months before graduation.聽聽

鈥淚 am so fortunate,鈥� says Tavarez, who received the offer over spring break in March 鈥� just as COVID-19 was shutting down campus. As a program control analyst, he will聽monitor and report on the costs and schedules of project contracts. Once his on-site onboarding is complete at BAE鈥檚 Nashua, N.H., location, he will be working remotely for the聽foreseeable future.聽

鈥淚鈥檓 confident. I think I鈥檓 prepared,鈥� says Tavarez, an Andover, Mass., native who plans to return to 51视频 for an MBA.聽

Avery LaRochelle '20, who earned a graphic design degree, has also joined the ranks of remote workers. LaRochelle was able to parlay an internship at Harvard Pilgrim Health聽Care (HPHC) into a full-time junior designer contract position upon graduation.

Now she鈥檚 working out of her bedroom in Tyngsboro, Mass.

鈥淢y room has a desk and that鈥檚 where I have most of my meetings, on Webex. I also luckily can work outside on my deck sometimes,鈥� she says.

LaRochelle and her classmates are trailblazers on a new path to starting a career. They didn鈥檛 ask for it, but they鈥檙e prepared for the ride, she says.

鈥淚t is very different, especially since I worked in the HPHC office for almost seven months before the virus arrived,鈥� she says. It just takes a little getting used to, and a whole聽lot of self-starting and self-motivation.鈥�

Ashley Ventrillo 鈥�20 started her job as a victim witness advocate for the Essex District Attorney鈥檚 Office this summer working from home in Methuen, Mass. A public health聽graduate, Ventrillo got the offer after interviewing via Zoom at the end of her last semester.聽

Ventrillo, who is planning on law school, was thrilled to get a job working in the court system. After starting her job remotely, she is transitioning to working at the courthouse.聽Masks and social distancing practices are the new normal.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 not how I expected to start my job, but I鈥檓 still excited to be in a position where I can help people,鈥� she says.

Pre-pandemic Job Searches Pay Off

Michael Venetti 鈥�20, who earned a master鈥檚 degree in peace and conflict studies in May, started his job search last fall when he applied to the Presidential Management聽Fellowship program, which pays new graduates to spend two years working for a federal agency and provides them with mentoring and leadership training. By Valentine鈥檚 Day,聽he鈥檇 landed a position as a foreign affairs officer with the State Department鈥檚 Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.聽

When it came time for Venetti and his wife to find a place to live in the Washington, D.C. area, the pandemic had taken hold. They had to find an apartment without seeing it聽in person.聽聽

鈥淲e looked at all the photos of the apartment online and we talked to the management people. We weren鈥檛 allowed to do an in-person tour 鈥� at that time, they weren鈥檛聽allowing anyone into the buildings unless you lived here 鈥� so we talked about it and prayed about it and took a leap of faith,鈥� he says. To his relief, Venetti and his wife found a聽place in Reston, Va., that they love.聽

Venetti did his employee onboarding virtually and is going into the office one or two days a week and working remotely the other days. Although normally someone in his role聽would travel a couple of times a year to Africa or the Middle East as part of the job, international travel for most State Department employees is on hold for now.

Like Venetti, Maxwell Dumerant 鈥�20 of Malden, Mass., started his job search months before graduation.

And it paid off. The mechanical engineering graduate started working in June as a systems engineer at General Dynamics Electric Boat, a submarine builder for the U.S. Navy聽based in Groton, Conn.聽

Determined to land a job before graduating, Dumerant spent an hour each night applying for jobs online. 鈥淚 think I applied to every mechanical engineering position on聽Handshake,鈥� he says.聽

When the pandemic hit, he started to panic.

鈥淥h man, now I鈥檓 never going to get a job right out of college,鈥� Dumerant says he remembers thinking to himself. He considered returning to the Francis College of Engineering聽for a master鈥檚 degree. He called his manager at Best Buy, where he worked part-time during school, to see if he could get more hours.

Then he remembered a connection who works at General Dynamics Electric Boat. That led to an introduction to the company, to which he started applying online for every聽entry-level engineering position he could find. His diligence was rewarded when he got a phone interview over spring break. The only catch was to find a quiet place to talk on聽the phone.

鈥淢y family鈥檚 pretty big, and privacy isn鈥檛 really a thing in our house,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o I took my laptop out to my car and did the interview in my driveway.鈥�

He was hired in late April.

鈥淓verything worked out,鈥� says Dumerant, who has relocated to New London, Conn., about 15 minutes from his new office.