Alexandra Szilagyi graduated in 2017 with minors in Marketing and French. She has experience in pharmaceutical marketing, career coaching, and project management.
She is currently working with two startups: Birthday New York and Brick City Greenhouse.
Alexandra’s Current Role
I got the opportunity to move over to contracting and freelancing in 2022 and realized that there is more flexibility in that world. Now, I work in multiple places and explore different things that I am interested in. Currently, I am working for a pharmaceutical advertising company as a project manager. I also do operational things for a startup including budgeting, invoicing, and more.
Alexandra on Career Coaching
I started career coaching during the pandemic after I had helped a group of my friends with the job-search and negotiating process. I did it for three and a half years and though I found it fulfilling, I pivoted my learnings to working with companies that want to scale. I still coach individuals on occasion, but it is not my main focus.
Alexandra on Studying Abroad and Cultural Differences
Although I grew up with an international background, Paris was the first time I was on my own. Studying abroad honed my ability to deal with problems since there were many differences and problems that I had not foreseen. It definitely made me more resilient. Even the education system and style of learning is different in Paris as compared to NYC. For example, professors in the States allow for more discussions while in Paris, it was more lecture-based. You may also interpret things differently. In that moment, it is important to reflect on the fact that what is considered rude/good in one place might not be perceived the same way in another. The way to adapt to cultural differences is to simply be comfortable with failing.
Alexandra on Upcoming Trends
Artificial Intelligence is going to affect us no matter which industry we are in. Although companies are approaching AI differently, you have to consider how AI might be affecting the different roles out there. For example, project management hasn’t been as affected because it’s a very people-forward role unlike other roles, such as content writers/creators for example.
Alexandra on Networking
Don’t be afraid to cold email. If you are starting to look for jobs, reach out to people who have something in common with you (e.g. Baruch Graduates). People are also receptive when you reach out simply asking to have a conversation. When I was a student, I used to do that. I talked to people in different industries to figure out if I would be interested in those industries.
Alexandra’s Advice
(At Baruch) Join Clubs: Join clubs to meet as many people as you can! It’s harder to make friends at a commuter school, but clubs give you the opportunity to build personal and professional connections.
(In the workforce) Go above and beyond: I had an internship where I would do the tasks I was assigned. Although I did them well, the feedback I got at the end was that I did not go above and beyond. I took that to heart and at my next internship, I thought about what I could do to create extra value. You can stand out in many ways. One example is to create a dictionary of acronyms used in the company. Even something small like that shows initiative.