How EE Helped Land Me a Job

From time to time we invite guest bloggers who are part of the EE community to contribute their unique voices to our blog. Today’s guest blogger is EE superstar Brandon Faske, former President of EE at Tulane, EENY gala subcommittee chair, blog contributor, and treasured voluntEEr from the very beginning. 

Emily talks about it all the time. There’s something magical about Emily’s Entourage. This once small organization born in a living room through social media continues to grow and astound with each passing day. It inspires people to give not just donations, but time, energy and enthusiasm. It creates a conversation. It sticks in people’s minds. This magic can manifest itself in ways we’ve come to expect, like when we more than triple our fundraising goal for last spring’s NY Gala and in ways we don’t, like what happened to me when I wandered on to the human resources floor at work one day.

Emily and I chatting with a guest at EENY Gala this past spring

I walked into a meeting with my HR manager discuss the best strategies for finding my replacement as I headed off to law school. We had to fill my role as an assistant to one of the top executives in the media industry. The conversation went smoothly as we went over the basic questions that would be used to craft a job description:

“What are the day to day responsibilities?”

“What skills are necessary to succeed in the role?”

“What type of experience do you believe is necessary?”

After running through the checklist of questions, I decided to ask my own question.

Not knowing if my question was appropriate, I mumbled, and asked why the company had decided to hire me in the first place. My HR manager began to list off a few reasons before excitedly saying “oh, and that Emily’s Entourage thing you did at Tulane? That really stood out to us! So cool, out-of-box, and honestly it sounds like an incredible organization.”

So yeah, Emily’s Entourage helped land me a job! I was floored to hear this — an activity I had taken on simply as way to give back magically had now also become the way I landed an incredible job. The world works in mysterious ways.

Hanging out with Emily and her sister, Julia, at the Tulane Spring Event

Emily’s Entourage has always had a special place in my heart and in the hearts of so many. I was truly shocked to hear that even my interviewers, who have sat through countless interviews in their careers, made a mental note about EE and it’s gravitational appeal and could recall it more than a year later. As the race for a cure continues, this anecdote gives me more hope that there is a magical conclusion to the Emily’s Entourage story. People are listening and they are ready, willing and able to help—and to hire.

If you have talents and energy you’re willing to lend to EE, I encourage you to sign up to volunteer — who knows where it may lead!