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Jessica Larigan,
from HWS to Yahoo!

Growing up right outside of New York City, Jessica Larigan '05 always thought that she would return to the Big Apple after graduating from William Smith and live and work near her family. Opportunity called from the West Coast, however, and she answered.

Larigan became the first HWS graduate to intern for and be personally mentored by Daniel Rosensweig '83, COO of Yahoo! Inc. Officials of HWS and Yahoo! arranged the mentorship as part of the company's efforts to establish relationships with colleges that seem to attract large numbers of inquisitive and creative people.

"A strong liberal arts background, where you get the opportunity to create solutions is very important in our industry where we are blazing new trails daily," says Rosensweig. "The best education is to understand how to identify opportunities. HWS provides exactly that level of education and insight and we saw that early on in Jessica."

The internship with Yahoo! was actually her second; the first is another prime example of Larigan's ability to create solutions. She read an article in The Pulteney St. Survey about Zoomari Films, a company owned by two Hobart alumni Marc Bloomgarden '90 and Richard Schlansker '90. The media and society major wanted to know more about possible careers in media and entertainment so she took a chance and contacted the owners. She became their first intern.

"I think it was then that I realized that the HWS alum network is not only extensive and comprehensive, but that most people have very fond memories, and want to help current students," she says. She spent the summer working as a production assistant for Zoomari, immersed in the real world of production. "I still consider it one of the most valuable experiences I had at college." Looking back on her academic career, she laughs at what are now her favorite classes. "I never would have admitted it then, but my favorites were the most difficult and time-consuming ones. I find that I learn best when they are really challenging," she says.


 

 

Winter 2006


2005 WS grad lands Yahoo! job after internship

by Cindy McVey

Larigan '05 and Rosensweig '83 at Yahoo!'s
headquarters in California

For William Smith graduate Jessica Larigan '05, participating in a multi-week interview process with a high profile company isn't reality TV, it's reality.

Larigan, originally of Manhasset, N.Y., landed a job as a marketing specialist with Yahoo! Inc. after interning this past summer with Chief Operating Offi cer Dan Rosensweig '83 at the company's headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. She began work as a full-time employee in October.

Although Donald Trump and NBC popularized the long-term job interview and threw in some drama and elimination rounds for effect ("You're fired!" has never been so well-turned a phrase), such an approach is something Yahoo! finds beneficial.

"When people are here for 10 to 12 weeks, they get a clear understanding of the passion and engagement of the company," says Grant Bassett, director of campus affairs for Yahoo! "They work right in the middle of the fire with our best and smartest people and actually write code and create products or strategies. They know when it's over whether they're a good fit for the company or not - and our goal is that they consider it a positive experience regardless."

During Larigan's internship, for example, she developed a marketing program for Yahoo! to build greater awareness among college-age consumers of the company's Messenger product, an instant-message application. It was the presentation of this program to Rosensweig and other executives in the brand marketing department that resulted in the job offer.

"I knew my internship would focus on marketing, but this project was perfect because I am the demographic of consumer I'm also trying to target," says Larigan, who majored in media and society at HWS.

She said she gleaned much from Rosensweig and from people to whom she had access because of him.

"I learned that telling people you're interning with the COO of a company will quickly get you a 'yes' onto any calendar. This is part of what Dan told me he wanted for the mentorship - to see things as he sees them, meet the people that he is meeting everyday," says Larigan. "It was an internship, but it was elevated to an executive's level."

Their arrangement is something that Yahoo! and HWS worked quickly and carefully to make happen and hope to repeat with other HWS students or graduates. Initial conversations between Rosensweig and Bob Murphy, director of the Salisbury Center for Career Services at HWS, took place only a couple of months before graduation. The two decided to recruit candidates for a summer internship that Rosensweig would personally mentor.

"Dan is a very passionate Hobart alum. He knows that the caliber of the students from Hobart and William Smith - and the types of programs they come out of - are often a good fit with the culture at Yahoo! and he's committed to making the bridge between the two," explains Bassett. "I didn't have to convince him to participate; I have to keep slowing him down!" he adds with a laugh.

Murphy and his staff advertised the position to HWS students and received nearly 30 resumes, which were then forwarded to Bassett, who cut the list by about half. He then had a detailed conversation with Murphy about each student.

"Bob has a high level of engagement with the students; he knows them all very well so he could talk to me about each person's unique background, experience set or proven track record," says Bassett. "We were very impressed with the whole pool of HWS students because of their level of maturity and professionalism, and because there was a lot of inquisitiveness there - a key attribute of people who thrive at Yahoo!"

Yahoo!'s Sunnyvale, Calif. campus

Larigan finds HWS and Yahoo! similar in enough ways that she feels like she's back at college. The company's headquarters is a "campus" complete with sand volleyball and bocce courts, athletic leagues, cookouts every Wednesday and music on the green in the summer. She attended an orientation much like the one during her first days at HWS.

"Yahoo! is so campus oriented I felt like a first-year again - finding my way around, getting to know the right people," she says. "But now, I have a firm understanding of a variety of issues. I've discovered my strengths and weaknesses and learned to trust them. I know how to listen and when to offer an opinion."

She only recently realized that graduating from college and moving across the country with no social network or safety net was a brave thing to do.

Bassett notes that type of courage was something that attracted the company to Larigan.

"She has a sense of presence not normal for her age; a drive, determination and almost a fearlessness that impressed us," he said.

Larigan is equally impressed with her Yahoo! mentors and co-workers.

"It's a community working together, a place where things get done without focusing on the individual but rather the group effort. I think every college student in the world should be in line to work for Yahoo!," she says.

Rosensweig has since made an appearance on the 2005 season finale of The Apprentice, the hit NBC show. On behalf of Yahoo!, he donated $100,000 to the two charities featured in the final showdown.