College graduation marks a major milestone and is the start of a significant life transition. While you pause to reflect on this tremendous accomplishment and everything you’ve gained in the process, it’s also quite likely that you experience “transition nerves”... Read More

An elevator pitch is a succinct and persuasive speech that is used to spark interest in yourself (or interest in a project, idea, or product). For the purposes of FirstGen Ahead, college juniors will soon have an opportunity to practice... Read More

Networking might not come naturally to the majority of us, which is a problem since well over 70% of people in the U.S. obtain their positions based on people they know. We cannot ignore this fact and need to be... Read More

By Pnina Steiner, Master Resume & Interview Coach, FirstGen Ahead As with last year, many universities will host virtual career fairs during the fall and spring semesters, and separate career fairs based on industry, such as finance or biotechnology. Reasons... Read More

By Latchman Ramlochan, Junior, UMass Amherst Imagine you’re on an elevator and on your way home when someone gets in the elevator with you. You realize she has a pin on her jacket of the company where you have been... Read More

By Sebastien Cayo, Junior, Case Western Reserve University Networking and learning are continuing themes for our FirstGen Ahead cohort. At our January peer meeting, which was facilitated by Mariane St. Juste (a member of the first FirstGen Ahead cohort and... Read More

By Wanyi Lin Last year, students in FirstGen Ahead’s inaugural cohort were lucky enough to have their Networking Reception at the Founder’s home. Due to the ongoing global health crisis, an in-person gathering of our second-year cohort would have been... Read More

How do college students network when social distancing? Here are a few ideas to expand your network during the pandemic: 1) Reach out to alumni from your university. Perhaps you are studying what they studied. Perhaps they are in a... Read More

How do you feel when you’re at a networking event and the person who you’re talking with moves on to meet someone else? In theory, you probably don’t mind as networking is to meet people and you have other people... Read More

By Ghiana Guzman & Mariane St. Juste On Sunday, December 22, Susan opened her lovely home to us for the FirstGenAhead Networking Reception. Prior to the event, we prepared some questions for us to ask and some conversation starters. On... Read More