Patricia Nessle, 2010, 2011

Major: Marketing, MBA
Hometown: Corning, N.Y.
Current Job: Account Executive in Porter Novelli’s Washington, D.C., office

Patty Nessle used her marketing degree to market herself and landed her first job at
a Baltimore public relations firm right on the heels of graduation.

“I was able to start right off the bat with great working habits,” said Nessle. So when she decided she wanted to seek career opportunities beyond Baltimore, “I already had experience knowing what I needed to do next and where to look and find jobs.”

She set her sights on the nation’s capital and reached out to St. Bonaventure alumni in the D.C. network.

Today Nessle helps with media planning and buying in the Consumer Marketing Department at public relations firm Porter Novelli’s Washington, D.C., office — one of the firm’s 90 offices in 60 countries.

Connecting with St. Bonaventure alumni began long before Nessle graduated.

“Networking was part of my student experience at SBU,” she explained. For instance, when she was working on her MBA, the School of Business welcomed alumna Mari Snyder, vice president of Social Responsibility and Community Engagement at Marriott International, Inc., as a guest speaker.

“Ever since she came into class I stayed in touch with her through email, updating her with my professional status, and also asking her for advice and tips (about) moving
forward with my career,” Nessle said.

While at SBU, Nessle was a member of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) and embraced the organization’s social entrepreneurship mission. In one of SIFE’s signature programs, she joined fellow students and faculty from a cross-section of disciplines on
the annual Bahamas service trip.

“I taught in the schools, helped with building projects and even participated in hurricane
relief,” Nessle said.

When she was interviewing for jobs, she found out that employers were very interested
in these types of experiences.

“I think this is something that distinguished me from other candidates who were applying for the same jobs,” she said.