QUESTech, one of our seven student organizations, hosted a successful Alumni Panel on November 9th, 2023, featuring alumni from multiple technology specialties – Software Engineering (SWE), Product Management (PM), Data, and Engineering. Around twenty five students attended this hybrid event, which took place over multiple rooms, both in person and through Zoom, so students could move from room to room and explore several fields.

In the SWE room, there were four alumni. John McGahagan (Cohort 16), Ilan Gold (Cohort 22), Sophia Khezri (Cohort 32), and Ben Lin (Cohort 33) gave advice to current QUESTees on searching for internships and full-time positions at major software companies. Some advice included not putting too much pressure on your first job as it is only a small part of your career journey. Also, a quick fun fact: Ilan Gold shared that he was a founding member of QUEST Corporate!

In the PM room, alumni Andrew Lee (Cohort 23), Adam Sarsony (Cohort 29), Jacqueline Deprey (Cohort 30), and Kartik Krishnan (Cohort 31) shared their experiences in the industry. Krishnan mentioned the wide variety of work he does as a product manager at Microsoft. Currently, he is working on a project to update the Microsoft taskbar, located on the top of all Microsoft products!

In the Data room, Alia Abdelkader (Cohort 27) shared her experience working in the Congressional Budget Office. She plans on working there for a bit, as she is extremely passionate about the tax policy she works on. Abdelkader is considering a PhD in the future, possibly in public policy!

In the final room, Engineering, Joe Dadzie (Cohort 23) and Charles Grody (Cohort 29) discussed their work experiences in chemical engineering and manufacturing. Dadzie mentioned how he is ready to move back to his lab coat and work hands-on in his new project engineering role at ASR Group.

Samantha Taskale, Cohort 38 student and one of the co-leads for QUESTech, reflected, “The QUESTech alumni panel event was an amazing opportunity for QUEST students to explore possible career paths and build connections with our alumni network. We are very grateful for the alumni who took time out of their schedule to speak to the students and answer all of their questions.”