Where Talent Meets Opportunity

Three 2021 Dietrich College graduates have set their path to an exciting future. Krithika Veerappan, a neuroscience major with a concentration in computational neuroscience, has been hired as a consultant at strategic consulting firm Pariveda Solutions. Matthew Kern, an information sciences major, will be joining his sister, Rebecca Kern (DC 2018) at Capital One. Simon Lenoe, a German major with minors in music and Japanese, has joined Global Language institute to consult Japanese schools on English language education.

There is no ‘I’ in Team

Veerappan has joined Pariveda Solutions, a strategic consulting firm that helps companies use technology and analytical solutions to improve interactions for their customers and their employees. The firm works with brands such as Toyota, Gap and GameStop.

Originally, Veerappan discovered Pariveda at a Carnegie Mellon University virtual career fair.

“One of the things that really attracted me to the company is [the] emphasis placed on constant learning,” said Veerappan. “We're always doing something new, something different, something that's intellectually stimulating.”

Currently, Veerappan is working on a small team with other consultants, which reminds her of CMU.

“In my time at CMU, I got to do a lot of interdisciplinary things, try a lot of new things, and that was something that I feel translates well here where it's not like doing the same thing again and again,” said Veerappan. “It's like the work equivalent of being academically interdisciplinary.”

The company has offices across the country, though many employees are currently working from home. Once COVID restrictions are lifted, Veerappan will be joining the Washington D.C. office.

Liem Vu, managing vice president at Pariveda and CMU graduate (DC 1988), is excited to have Veerappan and other CMU alumni as part of the company.

“Some of the things that that we gleaned from [the hiring process] that set Krithika apart were things like her leadership,” said Vu. “In talking to her about how she works with teams, and especially how she develops relationships with others, how she overcomes challenges with others from problems to personalities and all that, one thing that we really impressed with was the amount of empathy that she showed in dealing with these situations.”

Vu hopes that more CMU graduates like Veerappan will join Pariveda.

“Anecdotally, I find that among the half dozen or [so] schools that I'm involved with, the candidates that I see from Carnegie Mellon are more diverse across many perspectives,” said Vu. “Having been through that experience myself and knowing that the university has only gotten more competitive, grander in scale, has developed far more rich programs since I've been there, I know that the average CMU student looks beyond him and herself and tries to make an impact in the world.”

Sibling Success

Matthew Kern (DC 2021) first learned about the opportunities at Capital One through his sister, Rebecca (DC 2018), and through other information systems graduates.

His first experience with Capital One was the 2019 C1 Technology Summit, an engagement program for software developers. He enjoyed it so much, he applied to intern at Capitol One in summer 2020. Following the summer internship, he was offered a full-time software engineer position once he graduated.

Matthew Kern anticipates starting at the company soon.

“I am really looking forward to getting to know and working alongside my teammates,” said Kern. “I don't yet know which team I will be on, but the people I have met at Capital One have all been very kind and encouraging.”

Matthew Kern strongly believes that his time at CMU has helped him achieve this role.

“In the Information Systems program, I spend a lot of time working on teams of people, and I have found some solid role models who did a great job of caring for their teammates and supporting the project,” said Kern. “I hope that at Capital One I am able to follow in their footsteps, encouraging my teammates and cooperating well to create great finished products.”

His sister, Rebecca Kern, is currently a software engineer at Capital One, working on their mobile app and creating the software that allows credit card users to redeem their rewards.

“It's cool that I get to see friends use something I worked on, and rewards are something that makes people happy,” said Kern.

Like Matthew Kern, Rebecca believes that her time at Carnegie Mellon prepared her well for her career at Capital One.

“I think that [the] information systems program prepared me really well to be a software engineer,” said Kern “A lot of the tools that we used were the actual tools that I use at Capital One.”

Travels to Japan

Lenoe obtained a position through the Global Language Institute, a firm that consults with Japanese schools on English education. Lenoe was introduced to the Program Director of the Institute by his mother, a native of Japan. Through this opportunity, he will learn more about second-language acquisition and teaching as part of his time at the Global Language institute.

“A lot of things have changed in the field of education over the past year,” Lenoe said.  “It's really interesting because the way that we're approaching teaching second languages and teaching English more specifically is really particular to our company and to the needs of what Japanese students need right now in 2021.”

Though Lenoe has spoken Japanese at home since he was a child, he strongly believes CMU has allowed him to develop this skill.

“I took a lot of Japanese classes at CMU, and I think it really helped me out,” said Lenoe. “I really didn't do substantial and serious study until I got into college.”

Lenoe was nervous about traveling to Japan, but he documented the experience on the Global Language Institute blog to help English speakers get their bearings in Japan, from entering the country to getting a bank account.

“I feel like my language study at CMU really prepared me for entering Japan and for working there as a professional,” he said.

Lenoe also looks forward to visiting his family in Japan, who he has not seen since he was in high school.

“Having an opportunity to go there and work, to spend time with my family, I think it's like a really fantastic and exciting opportunity,” said Lenoe.