Hi everyone! I’m Talley Snow, one of the newest Graduate Assistants in Career Services working on the team serving graduate students. I’m a second-year MBA in Wharton’s Healthcare Management Program and a first-year MPA at Harvard Kennedy School. On paper my career and education path looks linear: business undergrad → consulting → MBA/MPA, but, in reality, it zig-zagged, and I’ve spent a lot of time working with my undergraduate and graduate school career offices to chart the path I’m on today. As a quick personal summary, I spent a formative summer working in marketing, another summer in PR, realized I craved upstream strategy, pivoted into consulting, and later joined McKinsey. A handful of last-minute choices (and a lot of learning) brought me here to Penn.
Without getting too into detail of my background (you can check it out here!), I want to highlight three key tenets of my approach to career advising:
- Control what you can control
- Know your passions and where to find them
- Embrace the unknown
Control what you can control. It sounds simple, but this has been one of the key mental shifts over the course of my recruiting and professional career. I used to spend a lot of time stressing about things out of my control (“Will I even get an interview with [insert any company name here]?”), instead of prioritizing the things within my control. There are things you can control within your career search: How much time you spend reflecting on the positions you want to aim for, how much research you do on a company (including how many alumni or current team members you speak with!), and how well you prepare for an application or interview. Once you hit submit or wrap up interview, the process is out of your hands. Put the hard work in ahead of time to know that – regardless of the results – you gave it your best shot.
Bonus tip: If you’re not convinced about your candidacy, call a close friend or family member and have them remind you what a great person you are!
Know your passions and where to find them. It’s likely that for 95% of people reading this, your work is not your full “passion.”In my perspective, it’s important for work to be fulfilling, but know that there are other things in life that spark joy. For me, those things are my family, personal relationships, and community involvement. Before starting your job search, I think it’s really important to know what drives you and challenge yourself to think about how you can find that in your job. Does the firm you’re looking at provide flexible leave or vacation benefits? Does it partner and work with organizations whose missions align with yours? Do you expect to have the type of work-life balance that lets you log off in time for dinner or a workout each evening? If you can find your passion in your job, that’s great! If you can’t, be sure that you’re finding ways to chase that passion alongside your job.
Bonus tip: Can you find someone at the company you really, truly look up to? If so, be sure to ask them how they got there, and how their company supported them.
Lastly, embrace the unknown. I realize this might contradict the above about all of the preparation you can do, so stick with me here. Careers unfold amid shifting markets, evolving interests, and surprising conversations. Instead of waiting for certainty, treat your search like a series of low-stakes experiments. Turn curiosities into hypotheses – “I might thrive in mission-driven operations” or “I might love client-facing strategy” – and test them through informational chats, short projects, stretch classes, or part-time roles. Let the evidence guide the next step. Rejections become data, not final verdicts. Surprises become a learning experience, not a bump in the road.
Bonus tip: Try to leave room for one unknown in your career path. Does the firm you’re looking at do a type of work that’s completely new to you? Yes? If so, add it to your list of things you might want to explore if you join them.
I’m excited to bring my personal blend of structure and openness to Penn Career Services. Whether you’re pivoting from marketing to strategy, moving from journalism to industry, or simply choosing among several good options, I’d love to help you reflect on your passion, review your resume, or talk about a networking strategy. Master’s students are welcome to schedule an appointment with me on Handshake!
