Undergraduate Blog / Career Development

Working in a Startup Division

At ALKU there are multiple different divisions throughout the company that work to help consultants placed on projects such as Workday, Pharmaceuticals, Medical Device, Oracle, and Epic. Epic is the division I am currently working with and it is relatively new. Although working with such a new startup like division has its perks it is not without its challenges as well. The small group that comprises Epic at ALKU is definitely a fun loving, motivated, tight knit group where every success is noticed, no matter how small. The excitement of getting a job order in Epic is thrilling with excitement running through the group. However, as much fun as we all have when a job order or deal comes through there are also very tough days.

Since the Epic division is like a startup there are days when we have no new jobs to work on and are constantly working on the same job order, exhausting the base of candidates to call. These days get tougher as the list of candidates to call dwindles, but we then resort to using LinkedIn, CareerBuilder and other platforms to broaden our base and look for new potential candidates. The days where we do not have many jobs to work on also become days where we get more time to build relationships with our already existing consultants and see how their current projects are going, if they are rolling off soon, and if they want us to move forward and find another project for them.

Having interned at ALKU before and working in the pharmaceutical division and now coming back and working in the Epic division, I realize how much of a difference there is among divisions in terms of job traffic and how often job orders, send outs and open interview times come along.  However, being able to work in a startup division environment has definitely allowed me to grow in the company and has given me a broader sense as to what could be the case, in any division, if I were to go for a full time career with ALKU because every division does face its good and bad days.