Alumni Stories: Vandana Sathpathy, Kellogg School of Management ‘17

I think the sheer amount of team work and group projects at Kellogg prepared me well for moving the needle and delivering projects as a cohesive unit when people with diversity of thoughts, different work ethics, different communication styles and strong opinions come together.

In my two years at Kellogg, paradoxically, the only common factor in all my groups was diversity and learning to leverage the strengths of the group while navigating through our differences to achieve an end goal has been crucial to my role at Amazon too. 

The pressure of finding a job in the US, compounded by work constraints due to visa restrictions, can lead to students sometimes applying for jobs they aren’t interested in, just for a measure of job security.

Instead, take time to get to know all the opportunities available to you. Do some research upfront about companies you’re interested in. Actively seek out a mentor early—either a peer or a recent alumnus who started out as an international student and is working at your dream company. They will be able to empathize with you, and provide guidance on your career transition.

Meet with the career center at your school to understand your options, attend job fairs and networking events to meet with companies, put yourself out there and actively reach out to people in your network to find opportunities.

You may not need a work visa for an internship, so use that opportunity to either try something new or gain experience in a new role or industry you want to break into.

One reason was the MMM program. It offered the opportunity for holistic development by combining the academic rigor of an MBA program with a healthy dose of creativity, design thinking skills and experiential learning.

Kellogg students and alumni were also the most welcoming and engaged. They made time to talk to me even before I was admitted. This showed me their commitment to the school and the strength of the Kellogg network.

Kellogg opened a world of opportunities for me. It would have taken a lot longer for me to get where I am without the MBA. I was humbled at the lengths to which my peers would go to help each other succeed.

One experience that stands out for me are my meetings with my career coach at Kellogg who also doubled down as my life coach. She kept me honest and true to myself as I navigated the stressful process of recruiting and evaluating multiple job offers and tried to identify what mattered most to me and why. The decision matrix we formulated is a framework I use to this day to make important life decisions.