COI: Why did you join the Dr. Yvonne J. Chandler Mentoring Program?
Chanceline: I wanted to communicate with someone who had experience in the job market. It was my last semester and I had questions about how to find a job.

COI: Give a highlight of your experience.
Chanceline: I was really lucky because I ended up with the opportunity to have two mentors, and I took both because I had no previous job experience in the field. One was a data scientist at IBM and one was Vice President and General Manager at ALM Intelligence. They were both very realistic with me about what to expect in my job search and gave tips about how to manage my job search. 

COI: How did it happen that you were hired by the company where your mentor worked?
Chanceline: As we were talking, he started asking me about what classes I had taken and what experience I had. He also asked me about my goals. Then he mentioned they had an internal position that they had not posted, and he asked if I would look at the job description. After that, I expressed interest and sent in a resume for the position. Then he introduced me to the team. I interviewed with the team, and they made an offer. The funny part is that when they made the salary offer, I used the strategies that my mentors had given me to negotiate and ended up with a higher starting salary than originally stated.

COI: What is your new title and role?
Chanceline: My title is Research Manager. I have already started the job and began meeting my team. I will work remotely, and they have sent me all the equipment that I will need for my job. They have a yearly convention in NYC that I will attend, and I will be assigned a mentor in my new role. I’ll be analyzing survey information from law firms and transferring it into a format for analysis, which I will report on.

Learn more about the Dr. Yvonne J. Chandler Mentoring Program