Career Center: What is your current employment and how did you acquire it?
Mathew Grau: "My current employment is technically titled as a Research Analyst for Convergys Analytics. Convergys Analytics is a global company that specializes in data analysis in the customer experience industry. Being a research analyst, my main duties and responsibilities revolve around taking tabulated data from survey responses and creating insightful presentations for companies on how they can improve their overall customer experience. To sum it up in one sentence, I pull data and create business recommendations from said data and present it to clients in a PowerPoint presentation on a quarterly basis. The position was acquired after months and months of applying and patience. I remember I started applying for positions in November of my senior year and have a list of at least 50 companies I applied to before interviewing with Convergys in late April of my senior year. It was definitely a stressful process."
What struggles and unknown hardships did you encounter as a recent graduate?
"Being a recent college grad is definitely different. Having all the responsibilities that you did not have six months ago is not the easiest thing to adjust to. But I think the overall hardest thing to adjust to is free time. I go to work at 7 am, get home at 5 pm and then go straight to soccer training ( I am head coach of my high school women's soccer team) until 9. Once I finally get home from training I am exhausted and ready for bed. Days go by very quickly. Its a big adjustment from college in which you could stay up late and still find your free time to hang out with people if need be. But it is just not possible anymore."
How did the Career Center help you in your job search?
"The Career Center played a variety of roles in helping me get to the position I am now. The main thing that the Career Center helped me to do was understand my skill set and what I enjoy doing. This allowed me to decide the appropriate major and eventually find the career path that worked best for me."
Do you have any words of wisdom or advice to share with Hanover students?
"My biggest advice for current students is two fold. For starters, enjoy college while you are there. Things are definitely different on the other side and you are never around so many people you care about like you are at Hanover on a regular basis. Secondly, get on applying early, but do not get frustrated. You will get rejected probably 100 times before you finally find that job that works for you. Have faith and patience or else you may just lose your sanity."
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