From personalized career advice to helping alumni tap into the UVA network, Alumni Career Engagement (ACE) is here to empower alumni to plan, develop, and manage their careers for a lifetime. Hear from some alumni who have directly experienced the ACE effect.
ACE: The Best Kept Secret in Recruiting
J. Mike Walker (Col ’89)
Until 2017, J. Mike Walker (Col ’89) ran a boutique tech marketing consultancy. His clients frequently wondered why they had trouble selling a software product and assumed it was based on inadequate marketing—but often Mike found that the design or concept of the product was the problem, which couldn’t be helped with better marketing or advertising. It was frustrating, and he ultimately concluded that to have more impact, he should pivot towards software product management. That’s when he contacted ACE for help.
“I’m competing with candidates that have 10 solid years of experience doing software product management,” Mike says. “[…] And how do I compete with that? I have highly relevant experience in marketing strategy, but how should I talk about it?” Sharing his resume with the ACE team, Mike expected a 15-minute conversation containing a few edits but received much more feedback than that. “I felt like the advice on how I presented my resume and my experience was the most thorough and most useful from the Alumni Association than from any number of other resources that I tapped into.” This review helped Mike think at a strategic level about where he was in his career and how to present himself efficiently as a desirable candidate. He landed his first of several software product management positions in health-tech starting in mid-2017.
Mike got back in touch with the Alumni Association in 2021 when he started looking for VP Head of Product positions among stiff competition. ACE Director Liz Sprouse provided both strategic support for navigating his career transition and tactical feedback regarding his LinkedIn presence and other resources. “I would encourage alums to reach out to [the ACE team] at the beginning of a search as you’re thinking of how to approach it […] and to come back when you feel you have a strategy,” Mike suggests. He also made connections at a few Alumni Association networking events, even playing a mentor role to a young alumnus interested in the same field.
The job grind can be draining, and the importance of having someone in your corner can’t be underestimated. Because of that, Mike advises fellow alumni to find community with others going through the same thing. “Don’t overlook your Alumni Association. Of all the resources that I tapped, the feedback that I got from my own Alumni Association, even though I graduated 35 years ago, was the most helpful. I feel like in a way you guys are the best-kept secret in recruiting.”
Turning Your Passion into a Career
Jacob May (Com ’14)
There is almost always a way to turn your passion into a career, or to integrate the causes you love into your existing work. With the support of ACE, Jacob May (Com ’14) found a career path that accomplished precisely that.
During his time on Grounds, Jacob majored in commerce, with concentrations in finance and management and a minor in mathematics, volunteered at Madison House, and took a few religious studies courses. He secured a position as a loan underwriter in Richmond immediately after graduation and worked there for a couple of years, but he found it unfulfilling. Wanting to move to a bigger city, Jacob relocated to DC, where he’s worked for the past seven years in a similar position but focused on affordable housing.
Jacob enjoyed a stable career post-pandemic, but he wanted something that would integrate his longtime interest in religious studies. While putting together his application materials for graduate programs in 2022, he had an epiphany—contact the Alumni Association! In his own words, Jacob was “an atypically aged student without a strong background in the subject,” and having help from ACE in navigating those challenges made a significant impact. Across two meetings, ACE Director Liz Sprouse provided a detailed review of his resume and letter of intent, followed by some additional questions about deadlines, logistics, and his references.
“It was just really comforting to know that there was someone in the system who had that institutional knowledge—someone to bounce ideas off of,” says Jacob. He applied to three graduate programs and was accepted to two. Choosing a part-time online master’s program at the Chicago Theological Seminary allowed him the flexibility to keep his fulltime job without having to move. He was also offered a 30% scholarship, which he credits in part to Liz Sprouse’s advice. “Knowing what I know now [about ACE], I might have looked into it earlier,” he says. “The feeling that there is someone in your corner who can give you informed advice—just having that in your back pocket if there’s something that you want to do is definitely a good reason to support it.”
Leveraging the UVA Alumni Network
Bryn Galumbeck (Col ’22)
Job seeking can get overwhelming, but it’s never wrong to ask for help. For alumna Bryn Galumbeck (Col ’22), ACE was the piece of reassurance she needed to know she was on the right track when pivoting to a new career.
As a Virginia Beach native with plenty of high school friends who became Hoos, Bryn was no stranger to UVA and was drawn to the college’s community and camaraderie. Bryn decided to double-major in Global Development Studies and Economics. She was interested in the economic development field but didn’t want to work at a large consulting firm. After a year and a half at Hanover Research, Bryn realized she was learning valuable skills, but in the wrong subject.
Bryn was unsure of where to go for help at her life stage—was she ‘new enough’ to be considered a new grad, or did she have the experience of a seasoned employee? She sought out ACE for help with her resume and says, “I wasn’t expecting as much feedback as [ACE Director Liz Sprouse] gave, and it really showed the work and effort that she put into it […] she edited it with tracked changes and provided examples.” Meeting with ACE also clued Bryn into Wahoo Connect, the Alumni Association’s network exclusive to UVA alumni. Through Wahoo Connect, she made a connection with someone working in economic development who directly helped her secure her new job!
Prior to connecting with Liz Sprouse and ACE, Bryn had trouble getting calls back from hiring managers after sending her resume (as many job seekers do). But getting the right advice from ACE and knowing the right person through Wahoo Connect helped her move to the next stage. “It was really nice to get feedback from a more neutral party that wasn’t someone in my family or a friend,” says Bryn. ACE’s detailed and personalized review of Bryn’s job materials reinforced that she was making all the right moves in her career journey—all she needed was that last nudge.
Finding Career Direction
Eric Jao (Com ’97)
A School of Commerce graduate with a range of interests and skills, Eric Jao (Com ’97) has enjoyed a unique career journey. His first jobs after walking the Lawn included acting and working as a tech engineer, but you may know him as DJ Enferno, an internationally known musician whose twenty-year career includes a Las Vegas residency, a two-year stint as Madonna’s DJ, performances in 36 countries, and more. Eric also founded Mix Major in 2015, an electronic music school for kids and teens, after realizing how enriching it was to teach his daughter how to create her own melodies.
The COVID-19 pandemic took Mix Major from an in-person curriculum to a digital one, and as a result Eric realized that he preferred teaching and spending time with his family over DJing. He began working in sales for a solar company, but the position wasn’t a good fit and the hours interrupted Mix Major, so he contacted ACE knowing he “needed a change and needed direction.”
Discussing his resume with ACE Director Liz Sprouse showed him that the skills he’d cultivated as a DJ were a natural fit for a position combining his passions of tech and sales. “You CAN do this gig,” Eric had realized. “Your problem is the competition with more conventional experience.” To grow his profile, he jumped into the networking pool with both feet: contacting alumni on Wahoo Connect, engaging in cold outreach on LinkedIn and making use of Liz’s advice for the platform, and attending virtual Alumni Association networking events.
Fast-forward to 2023 and Eric now works for a cybersecurity platform while teaching music to hundreds through Mix Major and bringing down the house at the occasional DJ gig. “I work a lot of hours, but I have the time to,” because of the possibilities he found in the job market and giving himself permission to try new things. Working with ACE helped him find a position he’s extremely happy in and reinforced the importance of never searching alone. “You need other people’s advice, and you can add value to others’ lives,” says Eric. “The more you connect to other people—that’s the best way to move forward.”
The ACE Effect
Carla Partlow (Com ’92)
Having a guiding star can help a person reach whatever height they can imagine—and often far, far beyond. Carla Partlow (Com ’92) knew her own maxims well, and career support from ACE helped her reaffirm those passions and harness them in the right direction.
After earning her bachelor’s degree from the McIntire School of Commerce with a major in Spanish, Carla worked in her home state of Maryland for around a year. A year later, she harkened back to a pivotal question a UVA Career Center staff member had asked her while she was a student: had she ever considered working in admissions? Grasping that epiphany, Carla applied for a position with the UVA Office of Admission and worked there for two years. “I realized I had a passion for helping students get to college,” she says, but having to decline so many applicants took its toll and she decided to work with high school students on the side.
Carla’s skills in management, programming, and administration transferred seamlessly to an MBA in human resources from the University of Maryland and then 13 years in corporate organizational development. Her enthusiasm for supporting students drew her back to education and admissions, first at her high school alma mater’s career center and then in career coaching at the University of Maryland. She has been working for Trio programs for the past nine years. “My general belief is that your strengths and talents are already in you, as early as age five. You may not know them, and they may need to be developed, but they’re there,” she states. The only missing piece to her puzzle was an education credential, and seeing an email from ACE at the right time was a game-changer.
Personalized feedback on her statement from ACE Director Liz Sprouse was invaluable in helping her succinctly convey her message. Carla just finished her second year in the Student Affairs Concentration in the College of Education at the University of Maryland’s Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education, and wants to help first year students hit the ground running and take advantage of their opportunities.
In summarizing her work, Carla says “the same themes have emerged throughout my career: helping students get into college and stay in college, studying abroad, being a global citizen.” College and career go together for her—and just as importantly, it’s her right place.