How Four Tufts Gordon Institute Students Turned Outreach into Opportunity
A student sits in front of their bright computer screen, hesitating for a moment before hitting “send”. They reread the content of their message one more time: a quick introduction, a shared Tufts connection, and a simple request for advice or conversation. Reaching out to someone they may barely know, or have never met at all, can certainly feel intimidating; but often, that message is the start of something bigger.
This story is often the beginning of a string of positive communication: a friendly response, a more in-depth conversation, and a willingness to help. In some cases, that initial message may lead to resume feedback and career advice. In others, it can open the door to referrals and interviews. For several Tufts Gordon Institute students, it ultimately led to summer internships and co-op roles where they’ll be gaining hands-on experience in their fields, and a leap towards that future dream they envision for themselves.
These moments are not exceptions, they reflect a culture of resilience, communication, and encouragement within the Tufts University community. The alumni network, in these cases within Tufts Gordon Institute (TGI), is more than a list of contacts; it’s an engaged, responsive group of industry professionals who are eager to offer advice, share their own insights, and open doors. At the same time, our dedicated faculty play an active role in preparing students for various opportunities through resume feedback, interview practice, and unwavering encouragement. Combined with support from university resources like the Tufts Career Center, students are surrounded by a community that is invested in their success.
For the following four students, that collective support helped turn a simple outreach email into a meaningful next step towards their future dream careers.
Field Willis
Position: Technical Master’s Student in the Systems Concepts and Design Engineering Division
Company: Draper Laboratory, Inc.
Graduate Degree: MS in Innovation & Management, Tufts Gordon Institute
Undergraduate Degree: Biomedical Engineering, Union College
Each fall, Tufts Gordon Institute hosts a Mentor Matching event where alumni from the MS in Engineering Management (MSEM) and MS in Innovation & Management (MSIM) programs connect with current students. It was at this event that Field Willis met an MSEM alumnus currently working at Draper Laboratory, which turned into a formal mentorship relationship and sent Field on an unexpected career path:
“I chose my mentor based on her fascinating career at Draper, where she focuses on Human-Centered Solutions and cognitive and behavioral understanding. We had a wonderful conversation that night, and a couple of weeks later I reached out to her to grab coffee and get to know each other better – we shared stories about our careers and lives, which was a blast.
Given my background in biomedical engineering and interest in the medtech field, I was not considering Draper until I connected with my mentor, however when I found this position, I realized it was right up my alley,” Field told us when asked about his experience in the mentorship program.
For Field, the Mentor Matching event was the catalyst that sent him on a path to hitting “send”, making that connection, and stepping into the next step of his career. Once he discovered the Technical Master’s Student position at Draper, he ran it by his mentor who confirmed that the role seemed to suit his interests perfectly. She connected Field with the right people within Draper and after another great conversation with another member of the team, he was offered the position.
Field’s mentorship story is just one example of the support within the Tufts Gordon Institute alumni network; “The TGI alumni pride themselves on being constantly open to talking, regardless of the question. I have never encountered a situation where I could not find the answer or the person to be connected with,” Field told us, “The people at TGI are amazingly friendly and supportive, always ready to help whenever you need guidance.”
While Field is looking forward to this next step where he will have the opportunity to work on systems engineering and design for advanced technologies, he offered the following advice for students who find themselves at the beginning of their own job searches:
“Be an active listener. Do not premeditate what questions you are going to ask – instead, ask questions based on what you hear. Be present and curious.”
Smriti Lall
Position: Quality and Strategic Operations Co-op
Company: Moderna
Graduate Degree: MS in Innovation & Management, Tufts Gordon Institute
Undergraduate Degree: Computer Science and Information Systems, University of Witwatersrand
The core curriculum of the MS in Innovation & Management program at Tufts Gordon Institute centers around Innovation Sprints – semester-long projects where students team up to take problems worth solving and build a real solution while learning all aspects of launching a business. In her fall semester of the MSIM program, Smriti Lall was working with a team on a Sprint project focused on ‘small molecule drug discovery’. “That (Sprint) experience piqued my curiosity about the pharmaceutical industry and gave me a starting point to narrow down my co-op search process,” Smriti told us.
With a general industry of interest, Smriti chose to use her own intuition and the accessible TGI Alumni Network to begin sending emails, making connections, and stepping towards a career goal that was becoming clearer and clearer. She spent her time searching through LinkedIn for TGI alumni who had some sort of connection to the pharmaceutical industry and sent many requests to connect, which is how she came into contact with an MSEM alumnus currently working at Moderna.
When asked about her this connection, Smriti told us, “Through my LinkedIn searches and messaging I connected with an alumnus at Moderna, whose insights helped me better understand the industry, team, and the broader impact of their work at Moderna. That conversation gave me much more clarity and turned my initial curiosity into a strong interest in pursuing this opportunity.”
With that door into the pharmaceutical industry opened, Smriti explored available opportunities at Moderna that aligned with her interests and applied to roles that had a good fit with her background; “having the context from my conversation with a TGI alumnus going into the process made my application much more intentional and focused, ultimately leading me to gaining this co-op role.”
Smriti’s experience with the TGI alumni network is a standout example of the access TGI students have to successful industry professionals in various areas of expertise;
“One of the biggest lessons I learned during this process was just how willing people are to help, often far more than you’d expect. Reaching out, having conversations, and learning from others can open doors you didn’t even know existed,” Smriti said, “The alumni network made the entire process feel much more approachable and far less transactional. Instead of feeling isolated, it felt guided and intentional, and gave me the confidence to navigate the application process with much greater clarity.”
Throughout her time in the MSIM program, and especially during conversations with various alumni and faculty members, Smriti learned how to effectively market herself. She was able to refine her story, be more intentional with how she presented her skills, and approached networking and interviews with greater confidence – the confidence to hit that send button over a dozen times through LinkedIn messaging.
Balakrishnan (“Balu”) Anand
Position: Product Management Intern
Company: Dassault Systems
Graduate Degree: MS in Engineering Management, Tufts Gordon Institute
Undergraduate Degree: BTech in Mechanical Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
Alongside the Tufts Gordon Institute Mentor Matching, alumni network, and faculty support, Tufts University itself houses multiple opportunities for students to find support throughout their career journeys. Balu Anand, an MSEM student, found himself stepping outside of just TGI and into the wider Tufts University network through The Herd, Tufts’ mentoring and networking space for students and alumni across the university hosted by the Tufts Career Center.
When asked about this experience, Balu told us, “The Herd helped me connect with Tufts alumni for career advice, resume feedback, and general guidance. I set up coffee chats with those who had career paths similar to mine, as well as people working in areas I hoped to enter. These conversations helped me better understand different roles, improve how I positioned my experience, and in some cases ask about internship opportunities or referrals.” Due to The Herd being an internal Tufts resource where alumni volunteer their time and insights, Balu found that it was a much more comfortable networking experience because there was already a shared connection and willingness to help.
For Balu, when it came to having the confidence and skillset to send that email to make those connections with alumni, he leaned on faculty members he had a strong connection with; “Professor Jane Seminara’s advice and perspective from her classes gave me a lot of confidence and helped me approach the process more clearly. I was also in constant touch with Professor Sam Liggero during the process, and he was a strong source of support and guidance. I was able to use lessons from my professors in emotional intelligence to answer situational and managerial interview questions more thoughtfully.”
Across both the Tufts Career Center and TGI faculty network, Balu found consistent support throughout his search process. “If I were to talk to my past self, before starting this process, I would tell myself to talk to professors more often, build relationships early, and use those conversations to better understand the field and prepare for interviews,” Balu said.
Once he hit that send button the first time within The Herd network, as well as with faculty members requesting feedback, Balu found himself with invaluable advice, insight, and support that helped him find his way to an internship at Dassault Systems.
Prerana Rangdal
Position: Automotive Business Forecasting Analyst Co-op
Company: Bose Corporation
Graduate Degree: MS in Engineering Management, Tufts Gordon Institute
Undergraduate Degree: BTech in Information Technology, Vignana Bharati Institute of Technology
For Prerana Rangdal, the job search became an opportunity to combine multiple parts of the Tufts support network; from alumni connections to faculty mentorship she built up her community and found the guidance she needed.
During the Mentor Matching Program, Prerana gained what ended up being a crucial skillset in being intentional when creating connections as she began her job search. Once she found a job opening that was interesting, she searched for Tufts alumni within that company so that she could reach out directly to them to being a conversation. In doing so, she was able to open many doors; “Almost every single person I contacted got back to me,” Prerana told us, “That response rate really showed me how strong and supportive this community is, and it gave me a lot of confidence in leaning on those connections throughout my search.”
Once Prerana found this position at Bose, she did what she always does – reach out to any Tufts alumni in the division – and ended up creating a strong connection with a Tufts Gordon Institute alumni.
“What happened after our initial conversations made all the difference. He did not just offer a general referral, but actually identified the specific people I would need to talk to and looped me in with a formal introduction. Because of that introduction, I was scheduled to interview directly with the hiring manager. It was a genuinely powerful moment and I will always be grateful for how much effect he put into supporting me,” Prerana spoke of her communication with a TGI alumni at Bose Corporation.
However, for Prerana there was another mentor back at the university – her Supply Chain and Operations course instructor Gerry Brown. “I have to give an enormous shoutout to Professor Gerry Brown,” Prerana said when asked about this mentorship, “He was truly mentor throughout this entire process and supported me at every step. He ran mock interviews with me, coached me through each round, and built my confidence in ways I genuinely would not have expected. He sharpened and shaped me in ways I did not even know I needed.”
Prerana’s experience with the alumni network and Tufts Gordon Institute faculty members is a great example of how many different avenues TGI has to support their students. Both alumni and faculty members associated with TGI are almost always willing to connect with our students and give them guidance as they go through the huge task of finding an internship, co-op, or even full-time position.
The skills that Prerana gained by going through the Mentor Matching Program, as well as what she learned in her core courses, gave her the confidence to hit that send button many times throughout her job search – eventually landing her in a role she is excited to pursue.
For Field, Smriti, Balu, and Prerana, the path to a summer internship or co-op began with something simple: “hitting send.”
Whether through a message to an alum, guidance from a faculty mentor, participation in the Mentor Matching Program, or support from university career resources, each student found people willing to offer their time, advice, and encouragement along the way.
Together, their experiences reflect the strength of both the broader Tufts University community and the close-knit support system within Tufts Gordon Institute. Alumni shared industry insight and referrals, faculty helped students refine resumes and prepare for interviews, and university resources provided additional support throughout the search process.
For students still navigating their own career journeys, these stories offer an important takeaway: reaching out matters. A single conversation can lead to new insight, new confidence, and sometimes even a new opportunity. And within the Tufts community, there are people ready to answer that message.
Prerana Rangdal reflected:
“Just one right connection made with the right intention can open a door that hundreds of applicants may never open.”