For young professionals on the verge of getting started, a little bit of expert advice can go a long way.
On Jan. 23, nearly 100 of them – undergraduates, mostly within the Davis College of Business and Economics – got an ample supply of career guidance, courtesy of Shadow Day.
Now in its second year, Shadow Day offers students a full morning and afternoon of face-to-face meetings with a long list of Radford graduates who are also accomplished business authorities.
For this latest Shadow Day, 20 alums hosted 40 separate sessions, in spaces all around Kyle Hall, during which students could sit down with their temporary mentors and discuss topics like “Launching Your Career,” “Standing Out in the Workplace” and “Finding Your Path.”
At one of the first of those gatherings, a group of five met with Tyler Swarmer ’16, a finance and accounting graduate who is now a director of accounting advisory services for KPMG US.
Swarmer covered a range of topics from his own first-person perspective: the advances that are now shaping our technological landscape and how those in turn affect employment; the best strategies for accumulating the 150 semester hours required for licensure as a CPA; and the kind of workloads students could potentially expect after they become employees.
“You guys probably will never see these kinds of hours, but in my first two years, my average was probably 85 hours a week,” he said. “Now I work 45 to 50.”
The group also discussed which post-graduation approach is the most optimal: To complete one’s higher education all at once or to leap directly into the workplace after earning an undergraduate degree, then return to school later.
“After you have about five years of work experience … you understand what is actually happening within organizations,” he told them. “Then you’re able to take that experience and understanding back into the educational setting.”
But there isn’t one tried-and-true method to professional success, Swarmer explained, and he encouraged students to apply their knowledge of themselves to their treks: “There’s ultimately a lot of different ways to get there and carve out your path.”
President Bret Danilowicz, who earlier that day had presented the launch of Radford University’s new six-year plan, also dropped in to speak with a group of students.
“I’m delighted that you signed up for Shadow Day,” the president told them. “Last year, it was just getting started, and the number of students that signed up was relatively small, but there are more this year. And I’ll tell you: Either as a freshman or as a senior, the more times you attend these, the more you will learn.”
Danilowicz underscored the importance of continuous learning and challenging oneself and said that volunteering for tasks outside their job descriptions is a productive way to help build their portfolios.
The cornerstone of his talk, however, was his encouragement to students that, upon entering the workforce, they put into practice the skills for the jobs that are a step or two beyond their early positions.
“My big philosophy is you always need to keep all doors open in front of you, as many as you can. But to do that, in whatever role you’re in, you’ve got to be doing the things that people would expect you to be doing in your next role already. So, if you’re an assistant accountant, as soon as you can, you should start doing the things that a head accountant would be doing,” he said.
Not all of the Shadow Day meetings involved current students. In fact, two of this year’s program leaders, who share a longtime connection but who hadn’t seen each other in a while, had a quick reunion as well.
Business developer Mike “Flip” DeFilippo ’90 crossed paths on campus with Samuel Kane ’12, who is now a portfolio manager for the wealth management arm of United Bank. They first met in the early 2010s, when DeFilippo was working at Radford as a regional alumni coordinator and his wife, Rita, was advising Kane, then a senior, on his start into sales and business.
“He was willing to be coached and willing to learn what he didn't know, and that was part of his journey,” DeFilippo said of Kane, and they ultimately arranged for him to undertake an internship with the company Salesforce.
“That experience led to some more work. It transpired into him getting into other organizations and eventually that experience of getting his first opportunity to go into what is now his calling,” DeFilippo said.
“Without a doubt, Flip and Rita had a substantial influence on my career’s start,” Kane recalled. “Their support in guiding me to a Salesforce internship was instrumental in kicking off my professional career, and while that career has eventually taken a different path … they both played a meaningful role. I owe them both a lot.”
Kane said he himself is now acting as an informal mentor with a number of Radford students, whose resumes he has forwarded to United Bank’s recruiting team for consideration in the company’s summer internship program.
“I’ve always felt that Radford students can compete with anyone and deserve the same opportunities,” Kane explained.
“That’s what this whole thing is about,” DeFilippo said of Shadow Day: “Highlanders of different ages and different generations making connections and helping each other. Highlanders helping Highlanders.”
The other alumni mentors who participated in Shadow Day were: Nancy Artis ’73; Kar Carrington ’10; Carter Dages ’83; David Danco, MBA ’13; Joshua Eggleston ’15; Gina Gallagher ’85; Bob Hajny ’21; Kelly Harms ’00; Kristin Clark Kenley ’10; Samantha Livesay ’12; Michael Orr ’09; Tullio O’Reilly ’95; Andrew Powell ’13; Josh Rowe ’81; Susan Seubert ’90; Audra Shekleton ’04; Marquett Smith ’85 and Shawn-Ta Wilson ‘88.
