This week, we sat down with Russell Bruskin (MSA '19) , to learn more about his job search during and after his time at Baruch. Recently, Russell secured a full-time role with Deloitte after what sometimes felt like a long search.  Hi Russell! Thanks so much for chatting with us. Tell our readers a little bit about yourself.  Sure thing! I attended Baruch as both an undergraduate and a graduate student, where I received an accounting degree both times. I also passed the CPA Exam; the first two sections I passed while going for my master’s degree, while the last two I managed to pass during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic. I interned at a small tax boutique and a government agency auditing defined pension benefit plans while I was a student, but I’ve never had an internship with an accounting firm. I’ve recently accepted an offer to join Deloitte’s Audit & Assurance practice as a full-time Associate and I begin this fall. Congratulations on your recent offer! What was y...

Gabriella (Jingnan) Qi , MS '21 I graduated with my MS degree in Business Analytics in May 2021. After months of job searching, I finally landed with my dream company. The whole journey was tough, especially with COVID-19 and everything going on. However, the resources and support from the GCMC advisors have helped me get through this process greatly. I was actually drawn by the good reputation of the GCMC when I chose Baruch for my master’s degree. Helpful services such as all kinds of sessions and webinars quickly prepared my career-oriented mindset and equipped me with the necessary skills and techniques regarding self-awareness (self-assessment with Lindsey Plewa ), mock interviews (sessions with Annie Himmelsbach  and webinars with Tanuja Ramchal ), resume and cover letter writing, and networking tips (sessions with Jennifer Seidman ).  In addition, Handshake provides timely job postings and useful job search resources. Justyn Makarewycz  organizes a lot of company ...

Jun Lee , MS '21 If someone asked me what you would recommend new graduate students to do, I would say you should make GCMC career advisors your best friends. This is actually what one of my classmates told me to do in my first semester at Baruch College. As an international student, I have never experienced professional networking events before and wasn’t sure how to prepare for the campus recruiting process. Fortunately, the GCMC career advisors were able to help me in many areas including resume reviews, mock interviews, and one-on-one advising for my career path. Last semester, I worked with  Lindsey Plewa , a GCMC Career Coach, in preparation for the upcoming fall recruiting. She introduced me to the CliftonStrengths assessment which helped me identify strengths I wasn’t aware of and guided me on how to present them effectively during the interview process. Later, she also connected me to a professional who was working in my target industry. Through an informational meeting wi...

  Christopher Chong , MS '21 I remember when I was at the new graduate student orientation back in August 2019,  Fred Burke , the Director of GCMC, came on stage and said: “Make sure you save GCMC’s contact on speed dial and make them your best friends, because you will need it to navigate through business school!” Even though I did not save GCMC on speed dial in my phone, the latter was true - they have become one of the highlights of my time at Zicklin. Looking back as I enter the halfway point of my last semester here at Baruch, I would not be where I am now without GCMC. As someone whose background is not in business (I hold a B.S. in Physics), I thought I would have a hard time adjusting to all the business “lingo” and finding job opportunities. So when I got called back for an opportunity to interview with an accounting firm for an IT audit intern role, I was surprised and ecstatic! I remember immediately setting up an appointment with GCMC, and I was able to conduct sev...

Yana Edinovich , MS '22 The GCMC has been an invaluable resource during my time at Baruch as a graduate accounting student. As someone who decided to make a career change in the middle of the pandemic, I needed advice and encouragement. Working with the GCMC, I was able to identify areas in accounting that I was interested in the most, build a competitive resume, and get an internship at a high-profile firm.     The GCMC advisors are genuinely interested to learn about students’ backgrounds and tailor the advice and career strategies to their interests and goals. There is never a “one fits all” solution. During the Fall 2020 semester, I worked closely with Annie Himmelsbach . Under her guidance, I was able to identify my strengths and build confidence during the job search and interviewing process.    Each step of the way, whether it is attending the career fair, interviewing, or following up on emails, the GCMC career experts always offer support and spot-on ad...

Eka Gigauri , MS '20 The GCMC has been my go-to destination since day one as a graduate student of finance. I regularly check-in with my career advisors to update them on my job-search and interviewing progress, share my doubts, ask “stupid” questions, because, yes, it is a safe place to do so. For instance, multiple times, my career advisor gave me invaluable guidance not only on oral communication with recruiters and professionals but also on professional email correspondence. One time, I was unsure about the content of an email with an executive that would maximize my chances of a reply.  However, I followed the recommendations from my advisor about the format and tone of the email and I heard back from the executive in less than an hour.   In addition to working one on one with the career advisors, the GCMC frequently hosts informational sessions with companies that enable students to not only learn about them but also to network with executives. Prior to these events...

Luisa Diez , MBA '20 After graduation in June 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic, I realized that the job-hunting process was not going to be easy. I needed to do it strategically and decided to work hand-in-hand with my career coach at the GCMC.  I can highlight two things in this process:   First, understanding what I am good at and what roles I could be a good fit for is key. Not every position is for everyone, and I am not the best fit for every single open role. So what is a good starting point? Self-assessments.  The MBTI and StrengthsFinder tools provided by the GCMC helped me narrow my job search. It also boosted my confidence in answering behavioral questions, and now I speak with certainty about my strengths, work preferences, and capabilities.   Second, prepare, prepare, and prepare! I cannot count how many times I have told my elevator pitch to my career coach, yet it has helped me to be ready when the “tell me about yourself” question hits in an i...