What was your major and would you recommend to a Trinity student today?
I was a political science major and I would recommend it to any students interested in history, government or politics. Learning about those matters doesn’t hurt anybody

Could you please give us a brief description of your job here?
I am a client consultant for the employee benefits division. I handle all aspects of employee benefits such as medical programs, disability programs, employee warrants and so forth…Overall my responsibility is to advise clients and manage the relationship we have with them.

Could you give a description of a way that Trinity help you to be prepared for this job?
Trinity helped in the way that it teaches you how to communicate with others and get your point across. In general, college also teaches you to learn how to learn. Trinity gave me the skills to do that and to help me be in a better position to help others, which is basically my job. Trinity helps you to think through problem in a critical way.

When did you know that this is what you wanted to do?
Honestly, I don’t know. But, I can tell you how I got here. Out of college, I was offered a job as a sales representative for Travelers, in a small group of insurance program. I worked there for 4 years. After that, I took another position with Travelers as an account manager. After that, I started managing my company at the time, United Healthcare. I did pretty much what I did before, but I had more abilities to solve whatever the issues were. It was just a natural progression of things that got me where I am today.

What are the major trends that are affecting your business?
The biggest trend right now is healthcare. There are a lot of issues surrounding it about the cost, the regulations, health insurance, medical cost, HMO, etc…We trying to find out how we are going to control the costs and where would that money go.

Could you bring us to a typical day or talk about some of the things you do on a daily basis?
There is no typical day for me; I do a little bit of everything and it varies from day to day. I basically do a lot of background financial work. I use a lot of spreadsheets to determine where all the funds come from. I also conduct a lot of negotiations with clients.

Could you describe an aspect of the job that keeps you happy and makes all the hard work worthwhile?
I like getting out there and solving people’s issues, saving them money, or getting them the results that they want. Satisfying clients is always a good thing.

What is your least favorite part about the job?
I don’t like situations that cannot be solved or dealing with unreasonable people, the kind who are never satisfied no matter how hard you try to get them what they want. Fortunately, I don’t run into that very often.

How important was networking for you when you came out of college?
Networking is very important; I did a lot of it within the industry. However, because of most of my career changes were within the same company, I didn’t have to network much outside of the company. It’s very important to make sure you maintain contact with others. You never know when you are going to need them. The more people you know, the better for you.

While you were at Trinity, did you participate in any extracurricular activities that you feel benefited you and that you would recommend to current students?
I was in a fraternity and that was very useful. I made a lot of friends there and we did a lot of community service. I played football freshman year, then after that, I just participated in many intramural sports. I think you just have to get involved in something…it doesn’t have to be sports or a fraternity. Just do something that will take time out of your day and that will benefit others, then you will be fine. It’s good to learn how to work in groups and to interact with other people. You’ll need that in whatever career you go into.

Do you know of any internships or entry-level positions available within your field?
We are trying to establish some type of internship program here in this company. We are still working on the idea. As far as entry-level, there are always some positions available, if not in this company, at others. You just have to contact the human resources offices and find out the information. Students can contact me if they need more information about possible jobs or internships.

Do you have any last word of advice for students soon to be graduating and about to enter the real world?
Take some time off, go to Europe, have a good time. Don’t be in a hurry, because you are going to get to work for a really long time. After that, make sure you like what you are doing, and don’t get locked in a job just because you are there. Look out for changes and other opportunities if they present themselves to you. Do what’s best for you.