S9E4: Unlocking the Value of Alumni Connections feat. Justin Spangler and Diego Alvarez

We’re back for more stories about the impact the David Eccles School of Business has on the lives and careers of our alums. In this episode, host Frances Johnson is joined by Justin Spangler and Diego Alvarez for a conversation about the power of making connections through the David Eccles Alumni Network. Frances talks to Justin and Diego about the start of their mentor/mentee relationship, as well as discussing some of the benefits of staying involved with the Eccles Alumni Network. Justin, an Information Systems graduate and current executive MBA student, serves as the chair of the David Eccles Alumni Network Board and is actively involved in mentoring students like Diego. Diego, a senior studying marketing and information systems, shares how his connection with Justin helped him secure a Google internship and offers insights on the value of building strong alumni ties. Both of them emphasize the importance of relationships, mentorship, and staying engaged with the alumni network to enhance career success and personal growth.Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.fm.Eccles Business Buzz is proud to be selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 70 Business School podcasts on the web. Learn more at https://podcast.feedspot.com/us_business_school_podcasts. Episode Quotes:Diego reveals the mistake he made when connecting with alumni and what he’s learned since[06:58] Diego Alvarez: Going back to my early college career, and especially when I met Justin my sophomore year, the idea of meeting alumni at the beginning was pretty intimidating, especially when you think about networking too, and reaching out to people and like, oh, what does that look like? What does that mean? But as I've gotten to meet so many great alumni, I've realized just how great of a resource they are and how many people are out there willing to speak to you, willing to help you out. And what I really appreciate about it is it connects the theory or skills that you learn in classes to your actual career work. [08:03] And in my experience, I admit this is a mistake I've done in the past too. I think people jump all the way to the end where it's like, "Hey, can I have a referral?" or "Hey, I'm applying for this position; can you help me out?" But starting to build those relationships now during your undergrad experience and not at the end of your undergrad experience is super valuable because, like both of you mentioned, it is a relationship, and if you just look at it as, "Oh, I just want that referral," or "I just want that extra push in a position that I'm applying for," I feel like you're missing out on the entire experience that you can have.How having Justin as a mentor helped Diego find direction as a first-generation college student[19:36] Diego Alvarez: Just the feedback and practice that I received with Justin was monumental [and] was huge for me. Being able to have that person to bounce ideas back and forth to practice. We did a few interview prep sessions. He really helped me learn how to kind of sell myself as an individual when it comes to, not just interviews, but the moment you meet someone, the moment you talk to someone. And that was huge. Just in making myself more personal, making myself a friendlier person just in general, but also with my career as well. So having that feedback was massive, and not having someone to bounce those ideas back with, honestly, it would've been like wandering around in the dark, not knowing, okay, is it working or not? And when I find out if it is working or if it's not working, I'm probably finding out once they're sending me an email saying, "Hey, we're going to move on with someone else," or, "Hey, we'd like to continue on." So having that feedback, having that input, was awesome. And then going back to that support, just having those people who are champion for you, who push for you, is awesome. Those people who remove barriers for you has been huge. So those things, like knowing the barriers that could have been in my way if I didn't have someone like Justin or have the other mentors that I've had in my life, knowing the feedback and the conversation I've had. If I didn't have that, I don't know if I would've been able to go as far as I have. Justin shares how mentoring a first-gen student reignited his own motivation[23:40] Justin Spangler: I learned a lot from Diego. As I mentioned, Diego's a self-starter. He's overcome a lot. First generation in college, as we've talked about on this podcast, that inspires me as a mentor to be better and think of ways that I can help. And you know, when you're in that rut that I spoke about just a couple of minutes ago, you know, I'll get you out of it, and Diego's a shining great example of that. So definitely from a motivation perspective, relationships are a gem. I think we spoke about that earlier in the podcast, and there's value in having relationships and not just ...