As President Tom Arndorfer said, the opportunities for Jesuit students are endless. One of those opportunities is a career in business, which some students explored in detail at Career Day.
The business session at Career Day was led by Mr. Pat Duffy and Ms. Allie Foote.
Ms. Foote is the VP of Finance with the Portland Trail Blazers and Rose Quarter. This was her first Career Day, and she’s excited to return next year. Ms. Foote was happy to give back to Jesuit by spending time with students and helping them figure out their futures.
Ms. Foote hopes sophomores and juniors understand the importance of being open to new things in your careers.
“Be curious. Try new things. Be open to projects, jobs, things that you think won't actually serve you, because they usually do come back around in some way. I'd say every weird, random project I didn't think was going to benefit me, I use almost all of [those skills] in my current job,” she said.
However, she thinks the most crucial piece of advice for those looking to have a career in business is varied experience.
“Try to get as much varied experience as possible. That's different industries, different functions. So understanding what marketing does, what finance does, understanding all the different components of the normal business, and then different types of business models,” Foote said.
Sophomore Gracie Stalick was glad she attended as she learned a lot.
“It was interesting to hear about how there's a lot of different branches of business, and you can go a lot of different ways in business,” Stalick said.
Ms. Foote loves her job and helping the next generation of workers.
“I love my team. I love coaching [them]. I love helping them. I love making sure that I'm unblocking any obstacles they have to do their job well. And then I just love that it's something new every day. I have such a broad scope of what I do, and I love that I don't get bored, because every day there's a new challenge, there's new triumph, there's something new I can't figure out and I need to go learn and ask for help on but it's just it is a wide variety, so I never get bored,” she said.
Jackson Welsh, a junior, gained a deeper understanding of what he needs to pursue to have a career in business.
“I do want to have a career in business. Although the session did not influence that decision, it did give me more of a background on what you go through and how to manage that,” Welsh said.
There are so many aspects of business that one could have a career in, but Career Day is the perfect opportunity to learn more, make connections, and explore what the future could look like.
