By Dion J. Pierre (Staff Writer)
Anthony Hernandez, a member of the New Products team at Google and an accountant specialist, recently spoke at Hofstra to discuss the important transitions graduating seniors must make after leaving college for when they enter corporate America.
The event, hosted by ALFA and HAMA organizations, was dedicated to business-oriented students who are preparing to enter a very competitive job market that has become volatile in the last few years due to the Great Recession. Hernandez commented firmly on this drastic change in the market.
“What I’m really trying to get you guys to do is to realize you need to be proactive in your career…things have really changed in the last five years…there are very few jobs where you can just sit at a company for ten or fifteen years and retire comfortably,” said Hernandez.
In addition to giving tips on ensuring tenure at a business firm, Hernandez gave important advice on how to be positively perceived by coworkers and most importantly your boss.
“You’re going to spend a ridiculous amount of time with your boss, and he’s going to have a [large] amount of control on your life. They decide what you’re going to get paid next quarter or whether you deserve a promotion…that’s a big change from college to real life,” said Hernandez.
Treating your boss to lunch every now and then is also a plus according to Hernandez. “I would take my boss out for lunch, they’re not used to that…it’s something I tried to do at least once a month,” he said.
Hernandez also discussed how to conduct appropriate office conversation. Topics to avoid include politics, religion and romance.
“[In] your first couple of months at your job, it’s just not worth it to bring up any of these topics, because you’re more likely to burn yourself,” said Hernandez. “[Don’t] put yourself in a situation where your boss may have a different opinion of who you are.”
The event concluded on a very positive reaction from Sean Medard President of ALFA. He spoke about the importance of Hofstra students remembering they are small fish in a big pond.
At the time of publication, members of HAMA that attended this event were at a conference in New Orleans and unavailable for comment.
“We go up against a lot of different schools… the NYU’s, the Fordham’s,” said Medard. “It’s important that we do different things to allow our resume to stand out.”
