Young Alumni Businessmen Return for Career Panel

To learn more about how to prepare for success in the workplace after their time at Thomas Aquinas College, members of the TAC Business Club — a student-run organization focused on career planning — invited three recent graduates to a career panel last Wednesday evening. Jack Gardner (CA’24), a research and strategy management trainee for McMaster-Carr, joined by Max Nunes (CA’24) and Elijah King (CA’24) — both financial representatives for Northwestern Mutual — returned to the California campus to discuss their nascent careers. 

Elena Diaz-Bonilla (’25), president of the Business Club, moderated the event, asking the panelists questions about their experience of transitioning from the College to their current positions and how they prepared while still students. The alumni explained how they learned to market the skills they developed through the College’s integrated curriculum and classroom discussions, noting that “soft skills” — such as collaboration and communication — are even more important in the workplace than specialized “hard skills,” such as coding or database management. 

“When people are in the room, deciding on processes that will affect the outcome of the entire company, what are they exercising?” Mr. Gardner asked the students. “They’re exercising common sense, listening, communication, humility, and discipline. The virtues we’re talking about are all practiced in the classroom here. The best person in class is someone who listens, who cares about what other people have to say, who says, ‘Here’s what we’re all saying, let’s synthesize it and move forward.’ That’s what the CEO of a company does. If you want to climb to the top, do well in class.”

Agreed Mr. Nunes: “You feel most fired up when you have meetings, and you guys basically do that 24/7, whether it’s inside of class or in the coffee shop.”

In addition to advice about cultivating soft skills, the panelists shared stories about interviewing and interning, the best and most challenging parts of their jobs, and what makes their work fulfilling. The panelists encouraged students to see their Catholic liberal education as an asset in finding fulfilling careers after graduation. Said Mr. Gardner, “Be proud and be excited to be from TAC!”