By: Jacob Wilkowsky (Cohort 19 alumnus)

For this edition of Alumni Spotlight, we highlight Grace Cha (Q24) and Jason Ho (Q24). Grace is a
Business Technology Analyst at Deloitte, and Jason is a Technology Analyst at Accenture, both in the
Washington D.C. metro area. Both Grace and Jason majored in Information Systems, graduated in 2017, and both are from Maryland. However, most importantly to the author, both were members of QUESTPress. By the end of their time as QUESTPress undergrads, Grace and Jason were Double Trouble, Thunder and Lightning,
Daft Punk, Peanut Butter & Jelly.

However, not only were Grace and Jason collaborative, they were super effective leaders—eventually assuming outsized roles as team matriarch and webmaster. In this Alumni Spotlight, I hope to sit down with Grace and Jason and identify what led to them being such a productive pair. I also want to ask them about their transition to industry and the team dynamics they now experience in their respective jobs. Without further ado, let’s dive in and explore the dynamic of a duo.

Can you list the top factors for any successful duo?

Grace

For me, humor is key— throwing jokes around and keeping things lighthearted. I work well with people
who make me feel comfortable – and if we can make each other laugh at the end of the day, it helps in
taking a step back and seeing the bigger picture in stressful situations.

Jason

A good duo requires empathy— being able to share each other’s viewpoint and synching up your
thoughts. When you’re acting as a duo, you’re acting as a more diverse individual.

Have you guys developed similar relationships in industry yet? If so, how did they develop?

Grace

In the consulting industry, you almost always work as part of a larger team. When I started at Deloitte, I
joined my team along with another new hire. My co-worker and I have a great dynamic, but we
definitely went through some “storming” before we got to establish that relationship. We worked on
nearly everything together in situations involving a lot of ambiguity, and as much as we got along as
people, we definitely argued over differences in opinions on how to approach solving complex
problems. However, through that storming, we got to learn and understand how we work as individuals
and our different strengths and weaknesses. Today, although we share many responsibilities, we
understand how to divide those responsibilities in a way that works best for the both of us.

Jason

On my project, I work with a lot of people at my level doing cross-functional work. At first, developing that
personal rapport and talking about life outside of work was important for me. Building trust and getting to
the point where you know you have each other’s back is critical.

Were there any boundaries created for you guys in terms of roles as a duo? If so, how were those
established?

Grace

By the time senior year came around, we were both really involved in QUEST. I think the beauty of
QUESTPress is that there weren’t any boundaries in terms of what type of articles to pursue or avenues
to improve QUESTPress. No one would shoot each other’s ideas down. For me and Jason, I know Jason
wanted to learn technical skills, so he worked on the website. I was interested in how to engage QUEST
as a community, so I started writing silly BuzzFeed-style articles. We pursued paths that catered to our
interests and played to our strengths and that created a good dynamic between the two us!

Jason

I wanted to facilitate the technical side of QUESTPress and make everything look nice, which is how I
carved out my role. We both bonded under Bobby Fitzgerald’s leadership as juniors and decided what
our roles were then. Earlier, when I joined as a sophomore, it was a situation where I wanted to become
as engaged as possible in the QUEST community. So I became involved in QUESTPress and QUEST
Recruiting without a seriously defined role.

In your current roles, are there any boundaries created for your role on your teams? If so, how were those established?

Grace

When you’re new to the team, you feel the boundary of being the “new guy.” You have to find out what
your role will be on the team and that means testing those initial boundaries and advocating for the
work that you want to know.

Jason

On my team, it was an interesting dynamic and harder for me to figure out at the beginning. My boss at
the time didn’t encourage as intimate a personal environment as I’m typically comfortable with.
However, when we broke into the personal sphere as a team, I really became more comfortable. What
helped establish a more personal environment was when we began to discuss our “highs and lows” as a
team. Talking about personal lives helped our team coalesce.

As a QUESTPress duo, what was your direction? How was it established?

Grace

Honestly, I joined QUEST because QUEST alum Jaimie Hsu recommended applying. It was intimidating as
a freshman because it was my first time going through a formal interview process and once I was
admitted, I didn’t know how I would measure up to all these overachievers. I thought, “How do I get
involved?” and I wanted to pick something that was fun. QUEST alum Bobby Fitzgerald lived on my floor
sophomore year and suggested QUESTPress. And the rest is history!

Jason

When I started in QUEST, I was a hungry individual and wanted to pursue as many opportunities to learn
as possible. I felt this pressure that if I didn’t give 100%, I’d be missing out. That sense of opportunity
drove me and the direction was less important. Being at QUESTCamp and hearing from leaders about
each organization helped funnel me to QUESTPress and QUEST Recruiting. I joined QUESTPress because
of the great vibe I got. Everyone was very chill. I joined QUEST Recruiting because I wanted to learn how
to speak with people, table, and persuade.

Similarly, how is your direction on your teams established in industry?

Grace

My team and role is for the most part self-driven. We might have some general guidance, but my
manager is generally hands-off. For me, I have trouble dealing with ambiguity, but that challenge has
placed me in a stretch role where I bring recommendations and ideas to the team. For instance, my
team creates data dashboards for our client, and I realized we weren’t tracking feature requests or issues
in a central place. I, then, implemented an agile approach that I learned in QUEST, and now serve
somewhat as a “scrum master” for each of our dashboard sprints. Because my team was open to these
suggestions, I was able to contribute a methodology that has benefited the organization of our team.

Jason

My experience is very similar to Grace’s. A lot of managers are hands-off and we are just put in a general
workflow. There was a period when I was twiddling my thumbs trying to figure out my place at the
beginning. For direction in my role, I keep sticky notes everywhere of all the issues and things that I can
improve. This gives me direction every day. My sticky notes create a trail of breadcrumbs for whenever I
complete a task and have bandwidth to pick something else up.

Any last words on the key for successful teamwork?

Grace

Always find a person on your team who you have a good working relationship with that will vouch for you. If something goes down, you want to have someone who will advocate for your work.

Jason

It is hard to build a relationship just based solely on work. Communicate with other and build relationships that help you learn and establish trust within your organization.

Thank you so much to Grace and Jason for taking the time to speak with me. I first met this
dynamic duo four years ago when they were sophomores, and it is incredible the progress they’ve made
in their careers since. They touched on quite a few concepts in their responses, including the value of
trust, communication, drive, and role-development to name a few. Clearly, these are concepts they
explored as undergrads in QUEST. I can’t wait to see what you both accomplished together in the next
four years. The QUEST never ends!

Jason and other QUEST friends with Grace jumping into the picture 🙂

Being in college, the idea of one day being an alum of the University of Maryland seems far into the distance. While it’s something we talk about often, it isn’t something we are ever prepared for when it finally arrives. With this said, our greatest hope is that when the time finally comes, we can take what we learned from our classes and experiences and apply them to the real world.

I recently reached out to Bryan Towns, a QUEST Cohort 7 alumnus that graduated in 2002 from the Clark School with a degree in Chemical Engineering. I got to learn about his work for Abbott Laboratories and how QUEST not only helped him attain his first job but has since also helped guide him with the special and unique skill set it gave to him.

Where do you work and what exactly do you do there?

I am Director of Program Management at Abbott Laboratories in Chicago. In that role, I lead the product development efforts for one of Abbott’s diagnostic divisions. The product that we are developing is a really cool automated instrument that isolates and identifies DNA and RNA to enable hospitals to diagnose a larger number of infectious diseases with higher accuracy and faster than is otherwise possible today.

How did QUEST help you in getting your job?

I still remember the specific interview question that landed me my first job out of Maryland! In a dual-sided panel interview (multiple interviewers asking the same question of multiple candidates), we were asked how to bring a team with differing views/interests to a consensus decision. I described the Pugh decision matrix that we had used across my three years in QUEST. After landing the job, I was told that response helped to set me apart by demonstrating the systematic thinking and team building skills that QUEST instills and are in demand across all industries back in 2002 through today.

Bryan received one of the Outstanding Service Awards at QUEST’s 25th Anniversary Gala

If you could do things differently, what would you do?

I wish that I had become more involved at UMD and QUEST earlier in my career. I have become very involved in recruiting, sponsoring QUEST projects, and participating in the QUEST Alumni Board over the past 5-7 years, and I seem to learn something new and useful every time I am back on campus. Had I engaged in QUEST a decade earlier, I would have been able to apply those lessons earlier in my career.

What words of wisdom do you have for current QUEST students?

While being a jack-of-all-trades was once valued in industry, a much greater emphasis is put on depth and expertise in a specific field these days. Whatever your major, identify a field that you anticipate being valuable (for example, cybersecurity, government relations, and risk management are fields that are getting a lot of attention right now) and start building expertise in it while in school. Continue building and refining that expertise early in your career and you’ll be amazed by how many options will be made available for you.

Ben Hsieh (Q22)

By Sam Weaver (Q26)

It’s easy to forget in your first two years of college that you (most likely) have to graduate after four years. As a current junior, it’s a reality that’s becoming more and more pressing in my life, along with all the stress and anxiousness that comes with it. We spend a lot of time in college focusing on our eventual careers: where we want to be in ten years, how to chase our passions, and what corner office we want to have one day. We don’t, however, spend much time talking about what your first couple of years in the workforce will be like. This month I caught up with Ben Hsieh (Q22) to talk about his first year as an Associate Consultant at Bain & Company.

Q: What surprised you most about working full time?

I think the “realness” of it all hits pretty quickly, especially in jobs in professional services. Because clients are paying for our work, there’s a need for everything to be 100% correct – a 93% no longer gets you an A-. That being said, I think at most companies that QUEST students end up at have great cultures where there are large support networks for employees.

Having to focus straight for 8-15 hours is also a lot more challenging than I anticipated it being. While there’s no doubt that QUEST students are busy, running from class to extracurricular activity, the pockets of “break time” between classes don’t exist when you’re working.

Q: What’s been the easiest change from school to work?

Definitely the paychecks that come biweekly. Boy, does that feel good.

Q: How has consulting been different from what you expected going in? How has it been similar to your expectations?

The difference between recruiting (expectations) and work (reality) exists for every company. When going through the recruiting process, most employers only tell students about the coolest projects in the office or the biggest perks while glossing over the bad parts of the job. That being said, I still think that the work that I do is interesting and the people with whom I work are extremely talented, both reasons that I chose the job that I did. [One of the biggest differences is] we do a lot of presentations sitting down and having a conversation with our clients in a casual setting, there’s no stand up presentations. There are still lots and lots of PowerPoints though.

Q: There’s a lot of pressure to find your “dream job” right out of college. Do you think that ever really happens?

Call me cynical but I don’t think there’s a perfect first job; I think there are positives and negatives to every job. Our generation is very focused on optimizing “optionality” – we have to eat at the best restaurants and find the best jobs – but I think it’s more important to find some components [of work] that energize you and focus on getting those in your job. For me, it’s working with people — I really enjoy sitting in a team room and whiteboarding ideas.

To handle the parts of the job that are not as pleasant, I think there are two things you can do. First, remember the parts of the job that you do enjoy and see if the “math works out” — are you doing things you enjoy more often than things you don’t enjoy (factoring in the level of enjoyment)? Second, think about how you could change the negatives or shift them to be more enjoyable.

Q: You relocated across the country for your job, what advice do you have for handling that change?

Moving is hard, especially when you don’t know anyone in the city. I think the best advice I can offer here is to level-set expectations and to be positive. It’s a strange experience because you go from senior year, where you’ve made great friends, know your way around, and have the trust/respect of your peers and professors, to starting from zero (even if you interned at the same place).  It takes some time to adjust, and I think a great corollary is first semester freshman year, which for most people was a fairly difficult transition. Tacking on the change to working full time and getting to know a new city, the “struggle is real,” but talking to friends, both those who have and haven’t moved, helps smooth the process a lot as well.

Q: What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned about yourself from your first year on the job?

Work is not the most important for me. I really enjoy my job and all the benefits it has, but, at the end of the day, I find more fulfillment in having great relationships, making food and music, and playing golf. There are some people who don’t enjoy hobbies and prefer the intellectual stimulus and excitement of work; I’m just not one of them and that’s okay.

By Chineme Obiefune (Q25)

As college students, it can be hard to imagine starting a new job right after graduation. Beginning a new chapter in our lives with new responsibilities is no small feat. Some people choose to stay in the area, others relocate to different parts of the country, and a courageous group of people dare to travel beyond the borders.

I recently spoke with Phil Anderson, a QUEST Cohort 17 alumnus, regarding his time with Amazon Web Services in South Africa. We talked about the work he does for Amazon, how QUEST helped him adapt to his new surroundings, and what he would do differently if he had the chance.

What exactly do you do for Amazon? 

I’m a software development engineer for Amazon Web Services. I was a Computer Science and Math major at the University of Maryland and now I work on their Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) product. I work with around 100 engineers and have a hand in the design and building process of the product. I also have a strong role in regards to talking with customers to better understand their needs and develop different features.

How did QUEST help you get your job?

QUEST was outside my comfort zone and gave me the chance to get involved with things I wasn’t completely familiar with. Working on uneven footing is something I quickly became familiar with, especially at Amazon. I initially worked at Amazon Seattle for a couple years out of college and QUEST really helped me get comfortable working in random environments with diverse people and cultures.

How has it been adjusting to the new environment in South Africa?

When I first got here, it was the small subtleties that shocked me initially. Working in an environment where everyone speaks Afrikaans and not English took some time to adjust. It was initially very daunting but after some time I was able to adjust and gain a better understanding of the culture. It was also interesting to see the impact that apartheid had left on the country. Seeing the impact on the culture was definitely eye-opening.

If you could do things over again, what would you do differently?

I would take things quicker. It took me about four years after college to move to Cape Town and in retrospect I shouldn’t have been so intimidated by the challenge of moving abroad. I should have been more confident in taking the new job and jumping into the deep end, even though I wasn’t entirely sure of it.

What words of wisdom do you have for fellow QUEST students?

 Follow what you want to do, not just the safe option or what you think others would expect you to do.

When QUEST Alumna, Lauren Filocco (Q17), wanted to open a barre studio she “knew it had to be in College Park.” Less than a year later, OpenBarre had its grand opening in February, just off Route One. Barre classes, the focus of the studio, are a combination of yoga, ballet, and pilates and provide a fun, low impact workout for participants. The studio is the kind of place that makes you want to work out; it’s all the best parts of an Instagram gym photo: sunny, bright wood floors, and neat piles of exercise equipment.

While right next to a college, where students have access to gyms on campus, might seem like an odd location to put a fitness studio – it’s one that’s working for OpenBarre. By focusing on the customer experience, a familiar concept to any QUEST student, Lauren and her team have been able to fill a gap in the community. As she points out, if a person goes to Eppley Recreation Center, where group fitness classes are crowded, they have to be comfortable exercising in front of a lot of other people; it’s not a perfect system. “Also,” she laughs, “I lived in Commons – it’s far [away].”

It’s easy to see how QUEST prepares students for entrepreneurial pursuits, but when I asked her how QUEST has influenced her career Lauren actually referenced her full-time work at McCormick. The 490H consulting project really taught her how to be confident when speaking to people who have more technical knowledge of a subject, which is a skill that carried over to her job in procurement.

So how does one go from a job in procurement to opening a fitness studio? Lauren credits a large part to the mentorship received from the owner of the barre studio she frequented, who encouraged her to pursue her idea. “Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” she says, the benefits you receive from the people who are willing to help far outweigh the times people choose not to respond.

Check out Open Barre’s website here!