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Five Connecticut College alumni return to campus to talk about their e-careers

October 23, 2007

The five alumni who returned to campus Oct. 19 to talk about their e-careers are in one of the hottest employment fields.

But their path to this new field hasn´t been all that unusual. They experimented in other fields, looked for work they loved and invested their talent and energy in their interests. All fivesaid that they began paving their career paths before the world had decided if the Internet was here to stay or simply a fad.

"When we got into the work force there was not this industry to get into," said Rick Stratton ´96, moderator of the panel and founder of feed.us, an innovative way to publish Web sites and pages. "We had to find our way."

The discussion also featured Tim Armstrong ´93, a Google vice president, and his college roommate, Luke Beatty ´93, founder of Associated Content, as well as Andrew Margie ´96 and Anne Holland ´86.

Beatty initially became a teacher, using his summers off to take Internet-based jobs completing tasks like moving the content of the Yellow Pages onto an online database. Teaching enabled him to speak on the cuff and became his way to break onto the Web but still have a steady job at the same.

Margie, who today works as the director of digital media for CSTV Networks and College Sports Television, said that he began a career in finance before trying out a few other jobs. It´s normal for graduates today to try many different jobs before finding a career that makes them happy, he said. After working in marketing at American Express, Margie was intrigued by the possibility of working with digital media.

"One of the benefits of digital media is that you can learn quickly and you´re forced to," he said.

Like Margie, Armstrong wasn´t entirely sure of what he wanted to do after graduation either. Since many of his friends in Boston were having the same problem, he decided to start a newspaper about finding a career - an idea that exposed him to many different industries and gave him a better sense about what job suited him best.

"You pretty much have a grace period of about five to seven years once you graduate to figure out what you want to do," he said.

After sending what he referred to as a self-starter package to Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, Armstrong was surprised when he was offered an interview with Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of Google who were impressed by Armstrong´s interest and enthusiasm.

"I found a job where I love what I do," he said. "I´d show up even if I didn´t get paid."

Holland, founder and content director of Marketing Sherpa Inc., also said that she tried working for a few different industries before realizing what she wanted to do. She encouraged students to use temp agencies as a way to "sail into different companies."

"It´s a horrible job. You wind up as your receptionist´s assistant or something but you get your foot in the door," she said.

Holland later started Marketing Sherpa Inc. in 1999, a site that publishes content read by over 237,000 marketing professionals weekly. She didn´t sleep for the first three years but today enjoys the benefits of her hard work. Now she spends winters in Nepal and Serbia while running her company at the same time; a benefit of working on the Web.

All five panelists agreed that today´s graduates can really take advantage of e-careers, particularly since students have grown up with features like e-mail and adapted quickly to Facebook. All of the speakers suggested students become fluent in a second language, since online search engines increasingly need to be translated, and learn HTML.

They also added that a Connecticut College education prepares students to be clear thinkers and ready for any career.

"You can throw Conn College graduates in any industry and they can swim," Margie said. "The ability to learn things quickly and change gears quickly is a big advantage."

Many of the panelists said that the Internet is a field that´s much easier to break into today. Holland said that three aspects of the field - copy writing (e-newsletters, blogs), web analytics, and marketing management - all offer positions that are in high demand.

"It´s a hot industry," she said. "It´s going to be growing like crazy in the U.S."

"The Internet´s really just getting started," Armstrong said.

For more information contact: Amy Sullivan (860) 439-2526; amy.sullivan@conncoll.edu