Three English alumni from Eastern Connecticut State University spoke with students about their careers during an English at Work virtual panel on April 6. Kelly Galligan ’16, Marcia Lee ’13 and Jessica Link ’14 have taken their strong foundations in writing and critical thinking and applied them to the healthcare and financial technology sectors. The alumni fielded questions from Barbara Liu, English professor and department chair. 

Lee is the core operations platform manager at Lending Club Bank, a financial technology company and online bank. In this role, she partners with multiple teams to maintain the functionality of the core operating system.

“I spend my day communicating in a virtual vortex,” said Lee, mentioning numerous emails and online meetings with internal and external clients concerning everything from operations to output. “I’m pulled in a lot of directions; it’s always exciting, always fun.”

Galligan is a proposal writer with Aetna, a CVS Health company. In this role, she supports the growth and retention of medical memberships by developing customer-focused, strategically oriented proposals.

When asked about aspects of her work that she enjoys, Galligan said, “Having a direct connection to a winning sale… being creative with our messaging and prioritizing what we say, crafting it in a way that piques our clients’ interests.”

Link is a contracts administrator for North Mill Equipment Finance LLC. Prior to this position, which she obtained in March 2021, she worked as a credit applications specialist and documentation specialist at Hitachi Capital America Corp., where she was responsible for creating and reviewing contracts for funding.

When asked about how she uses her English degree, Link noted how many people struggle to concisely communicate through email and praised the English program for teaching her how to write effectively. She added, “[As a student], having to balance different classes and assignments translates to the workplace where you have to balance different tasks.” 

Lee added that the English degree has bolstered her reading comprehension skills. “A lot of my day is spent researching and comprehending technical aspects related to our core operating system. I then have to relay this information to others in layman’s terms.”

Link said her Eastern experience was critical in developing professional confidence. In regard to interacting with company executives, she said there’s an element of “fake it till you make it… [being able to] sit at the table without showing your hand.”

When asked for recommendations about career preparation, the alumni suggested taking courses in public speaking and learning about Microsoft Excel, as well as taking internships and adding minors or double majors to their coursework.