Alli Esker

Meet Alli Esker, a third-year student majoring in finance with minors in economics and design thinking. Her finance roots began when she was just 12 years old when she asked her dad for a Roth IRA, a type of retirement account. Now 21, her explanation for her curiosity about the IRA hasn’t changed: “It just makes sense, I did the research.”

While her rationale for wanting to invest at a young age hasn’t changed in the past eight years, plenty of other things have. Alli currently finds herself at a pivot point, as she is considering multiple career paths and internship opportunities. Alli is focused on an internship following junior year, but she also believes that despite whatever opportunity she chooses, things have a way of working out the way they should.

This past summer is a perfect example. Alli spent time at her first real corporate internship with Cisco in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her role as an Advanced Services & Customer Experience Product Management Intern was largely project-based. She found her time at Cisco to be a “robust experience,” and she enjoyed her experience enough to continue as a remote intern with Cisco during this current academic year.

Alli will be the first to tell you that the process to land her internship with Cisco wasn’t an easy one. She applied to many companies in the fall and didn’t end up receiving an offer. However, in January she received the call she’d been waiting for from Cisco. Her advice to others struggling during recruiting season: stay patient. It can be difficult when your peers are receiving opportunities while you’re waiting, but have hope even if you don’t get that opportunity in the fall. Spring is right around the corner.

Additionally, Alli believes that utilizing the resources that Fisher offers has helped her tremendously. She applied to become a Career Coach in the Office of Career Management to be a resource for others. In her role, she has helped others realize their worth and value by helping students focus on what they can control, like a polished résumé, and ignore the things they can’t.

If you need career assistance such as creating a résumé, having your LinkedIn profile critiqued, or want to speak about other career services offered, consider seeing a Career Coach during drop-in hours or a full-time Career Consultant by appointment. Students and staff are there to help you become the most well-developed professional you can be.