Jennifer Dede, MBA

When you were a student, did you do anything outside of school to build skills or get knowledge that has helped your career?

Absolutely! In college, I applied early for on-campus research opportunities and did that part-time for the first two years. The summer of my third year (once I had a car), I found an internship at a medical device company nearby through my school’s online job portal. The following summer, I interned at another medical device company, which I received as a result of working with them for my senior project. Build connections fast and early!

How did you start building your network?

I started by joining the Engineering Student Council club at my college and volunteering enough to obtain a position where I was in charge of the annual career fair. This enabled me to start making connections with local companies regarding them securing booths at the fair, which helped me to get a better understanding of which companies are in the local area. I also built and boosted my LinkedIn profile and reached out to relevant people directly on there, even if I didn’t know them in person.