If Lily Belber '21 is being completely honest, she didn't always give her undivided attention during lectures this spring. To her credit, she rarely missed a class over Zoom, but she was more than occasionally multi-tasking...
Belber walked across the Commencement stage on Sunday, then started her career at Business Development Institute (BDI) on Wednesday. She made it her mission to score a job offer before graduation. In fact, she scored four offers. But, she was also rejected 246 times.
BDI is an event marketing agency based in New York City. They specialize in producing data-driven prospect roadshows called Accelerate Events - think roundtable luncheons, either in-person or virtually. BDI brands their clients as thought leaders within their industry and organizes events that often generate new business. BDI handles all of the heavy lifting from conception of the program content to guest recruitment, which is now Belber's responsibility.
Belber is an account coordinator. She may have up to ten clients, and she may reach out to 4,000 potential recruits to secure 40 guests (potential new business) for an event. If all goes well, she'll be promoted to account manager by the end of the year, and will manage events on the road.
It's a pretty terrific first job for a marketing major with a minor in management, though it didn't exactly fall in her lap. Belber estimates that she applied to 250 jobs between March and May. At times, she annoyed her roomates sending up to ten resumes per night, and often filled out online job posts during class (she's not bragging about it, more like coming clean). Sometimes it takes 246 no's to get a yes. But it only takes one yes to launch a career.
"I made it my goal to land a job before I graduated. I have high work ethic, so I figured with persistence, I'd have a job by Commencement. I didn't want to be walking across the Times Union Center stage unsure of where I was going next.
I'm a planner. I need to have a plan and stick to the plan. In fact, that's why this job is perfect for me. I get to make plans and organize tasks for a living!"
Lily Belber '21
