Hey ABSA fam! Welcome back!
Welcome to the 2nd edition of the ABSA’s blog! This week, we highlight recent graduate Conner Chen along with his experience in ABSA and his professional journey.
Connect with Conner here! (see our bit below to network with him)
P.S He’s super pleased to see this year’s family structure (ABSA fun fact: each e-board member used to have their own family)!
Conner Chen is a recent Ohio State graduate (2023) who specialized in Operations Management and minored in Fashion and Retail Studies. Some of his involvements outside of ABSA include Pi Delta Psi and MGC council. Now he works at L’Oreal USA, doing supply chain analytics within the LUXE Division Supply Planning team as part of the Operations Management Trainee rotational program.
Throughout our conversation with Conner, a theme that quickly caught our attention was intention. As we grow and maintain the connections that we have, he reminds us to approach every conversation with respect and care.
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Conner joined ABSA during his sophomore year, peak COVID in 2020. During this time, he used this opportunity to become more familiar with ABSA’s environment, becoming Director of Communications his junior year and President his senior year. He values his time on e-board, especially in the opportunity to connect and assist the general body with their resume reviews, Linkedin profiles, or their interview workshops.
“I love paying it forward whenever I've gained knowledge, especially when I was a freshman and sophomore. Going to my first few ABSA meetings, having the president at the time critique my resume, and then me being able to pass that forward to the younger grades, has been a super cool experience for me.”
From the events and in ABSA, Conner has developed skills in presenting and public speaking. He also gained familiarity on being able to connect with upperclassmen and full-time employees.
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Interning at L’oreal during his time in undergrad, Conner worked in the supply chain team working on various data reporting projects. He began his full item trainee program after earning a return offer his senior year in September 2023, where he rotated among different groups for the first 8 months where a big learning curve was becoming familiar with the broad catalog of products (some concealers have up to 35 shades!). From working in IT roles to working on Lancome's product line, he now manages 3 franchises that are supplied to Macy, Nordstrom, Sephora and more!
From internship to full time, Conner’s work remained similar. However, the change from college life to a 9-5 was a challenge. He called it, “adult puberty” (which we thought was very fitting). He had to discover how to fill the empty time of the day, a shift from all the organizations and events he had in college, with meaningful hobbies and activities like basketball and rock climbing which created a positive work-life balance, mental health, and gaining better focus at work.
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Looking to the future, Conner is currently working on his grad school applications to earn an MBA! As he recently graduated, he wants to use this fresh mindset to help him succeed in a graduate program and is eager for the opportunities that can arise such as networking experiences, joining organizations, or the ability to explore other careers.
However, with time consuming applications, Conner has had to discover how to balance grad school applications while also working a full-time job.
“It’s tough, but I’m gonna try my best. Incrementally progress every night, every weekend, working on whatever you're doing for your applications, whether it's studying for the GMAT or the GRE. It really adds up over time. It's definitely being very intentional about where your free time is, especially when you only have three to five hours of free time every night after a nine to five.”
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Reflecting on his experience, we asked him for a piece of advice he would give to the current members. He encourages everyone to attend as many meetings as possible because of the benefits the club has to offer and the opportunity of being able to connect with others.
In addition, Conner has learned from L’Oreal to maintain connections with intention or being mindful of a first impression when networking. He focuses the most of his time and energy with his former managers and mentors, who have given him advice and tips on how to be successful in his future positions.
“Think about who you really can rely on and those people that every time you catch up with them, you have a really good conversation. I only meet with them once every two or three months, catch up on our lives and give them my brief updates about how I'm doing in my position. I can ask them for pointers, advice on what they think I could do better.”
We wish Conner the best as he applies to grad schools and his future endeavors!
See you all next time!
Media Committee
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