The Career Everywhere team is excited to highlight a Career Champion each month. The Career Champion Spotlight for February 2022 is Marc Senatore.
Marc Senatore is the Assistant Vice President – Digital Acquisition Strategy Manager at Synchrony. He has been an active member of the Career Champion Program for the past four years and has dedicated his time to providing students with career advice and information. Marc graduated from UConn in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems. Read on to learn more about Marc and the work he does with students through the Career Champion Program.
Cecelia Lickteig: Why did you decide to become a Career Champion?
Marc Senatore: Synchrony has a long list of rockstars in the company who are Husky alumni. I was recruited by Huskies at a Fall Career Fair and felt the school spirit (and rivalries with the terrible Syracuse alumni here 😜 ) immediately upon joining. It made the transition from school to work much more manageable, instantly giving me something in common with colleagues of all levels, and so ever since then, I wanted to find ways to spread those feelings of belonging to the younger generation of Huskies. It also doesn’t hurt that my company affords me trips to visit the beautiful Storrs and Stamford campuses every so often too.
CL: How did you get into your line of work? Did anyone help you along your career journey when you were a student?
MS: For as long as I can remember I had a passion for technology and business. I knew from freshman year at UConn that I wanted to pursue those areas, but I was not originally a part of the School of Business, so I spent my first two years creating my own major that I thought would educate me best in those areas. It was a difficult road with a lot of uncertainty, but a good experience nonetheless that shaped me.
One individual who stands out would be Dr. Jose Cruz. While he didn’t know much about me, as his primary focus was/is on graduate students, he was the only faculty member in the School of Business willing to sponsor my independent study major and he taught me about OPIM/MIS. Him giving me, a random underclassman, that chance when so many professors in the department passed on me beforehand is something I will never forget and positively changed my path at UConn. After I became a Junior, I ended up getting into the School of Business and based on some advice from mentors, I formally declared myself an MIS major. I immediately went to work to make sure this opportunity was not wasted.
“The journey to the destination is almost never a straight line and each person’s path can differ.”
Marc Senatore
CL: What is the main way you interact with students? (Ex: through recruiting, at career fairs, making appointments, ect.)
MS: All the above. B.C. (before COVID), I was at UConn Storrs and Stamford 5-7x a semester between career fairs, interviews, club sessions, etc. Synchrony is this enormous Fortune 500 company that nobody knows about since we rebranded from GE, and I wanted to make sure everyone knew that we were hiring top talent.
Now that it’s all virtual I still do much of the same, but the energy is not the same. I am eager to get back on campus with the students soon.
CL: What is one piece of advice would you give any student during their career development journey?
MS: The journey to the destination is almost never a straight line and each person’s path can differ. There were many times in my academic and early professional career where I had heard (correctly or otherwise) about “this is the way to do things as that’s how it was done in the past”. When those didn’t work out for me, instead of losing hope, I changed the direction of the path, but with the same destination in mind. So far, I have gotten to where I needed to go every time.
CL: What are some main qualities or transferable skills you look for in potential candidates? How do you recommend Career Champions help students develop these?
MS: This is rather cliché, but I believe in grit and a strong work ethic above all. I openly say at the beginning of my interviews to candidates that I’m less concerned with how polished their answers are or what they have on their resume, and to instead genuinely show me in their interview examples where they’ve pushed themselves to do something awesome. Some of my favorite questions I ask are, “When did you give 110% at something and why?”, “When did you fail at something and how did you recover?” If they didn’t, “what did you learn from this opportunity so that you can overcome something similar in the future?”. It doesn’t matter if the examples come from the classroom, a club, sports team, summer job, etc. I believe hearing about how students faced adversity and rose above it is a superb metric for determining how they will handle the challenges and rigors of a fast-paced working environment.
My thoughts for Career Champions and how they can help students develop these skills comes from a professor I had senior year who shared some wisdom about stopping encouraging students to be “OK” at everything or “well-rounded”, and to instead pick one or two things they’re truly passionate about and give it their all. He said that the students will accomplish even more amazing things that way and will really stand out to employers. Now being on the other side I can confirm that is true when I have a list of candidates in front of me.
CL: Has being a career champion impacted your approach to giving students career advice? If yes, in what ways?
MS: It hasn’t, actually. I still share how the past rejection I faced shaped who I became as an academic and professional to students in hopes that they learn too that one bad grade or job rejection doesn’t define them. Instead, persistence, a strong work ethic, and tenacity will get them to where they want to go in due time.
CL: What resources did you use during your time at UConn that helped you in your career journey? Would you recommend these resources to current students?
MS: I will give a PSA to any underclassmen reading this, or Career Champions to advise them, to join their major’s club and to attend a diverse set of networking events ASAP. You’re never “too early” in your academic career to meet new people, learn from the speakers presenting, and possibly become a leader in those groups. Plus…there’s often free pizza!
Also, the School of Business conducted resume and cover letter reviews which are a big help for many, so please find someone to review those before you think of sending them off to any employers!
CL: How has being an alum affected your approach to helping UConn students in their career development journey?
MS: As I grow in my professional career, I have been able to make more of an impact for these students in creating development opportunities and with hiring. I have partnered very closely with the leaders of my organization’s co-op programs, internship programs, and full-time early career programs to make sure UConn students have a seat at the table. I currently chair the Digital Technology Center at UConn Stamford and employ 12+ technical students each semester and secure several of the seniors graduating with full-time roles, as just one example. I’m fortunate that Synchrony sees the value in UConn students and is so incredibly supportive through their generous development and hiring opportunities.
CL: If you were talking to a colleague about joining the Career Champion program, what would you share with them about the benefits of joining?
MS: I would share that it’s a no-brainer because giving back is important. The Career Champion program positions alumni to maintain the high standards we expect from our younger generation of Huskies and also enables us to also give students any opportunities that we wish we had when we were in their shoes.
Interested in becoming a Career Champion? Click here to learn about the program and its benefits.
