Archive for category Doostang Press

We are proud of the excellent relationships which we have built with great companies such as Goldman Sachs over the years, helping them recruit great talent like you. Some positions recently posted by great companies on Doostang include:

Investment Banking Analyst, New York, NY
Private Equity Associate, El Segundo, CA
Jr. Hedge Fund Research Associate, New York, NY
Equity Research Analyst, Chicago, IL
Venture Capital Associate, Cambridge, MA

When Teach For America reached out to us to learn more about how they could use Doostang to recruit for leadership roles within their organization, we were happy that such a highly-regarded nonprofit was interested in using Doostang as well. We recently had the opportunity to touch base with Spencer Kympton, Vice President of Recruitment at Teach For America. Spencer joined Teach For America from McKinsey and Company last year and started his career in the U.S. Army. Take it away Spencer…..

1) What made you choose West Point/the U.S. Army for college? What is your most fond memory of your time in the U.S. Army?

My father went to West Point, I lived there as a child, and I was familiar with all of the positive aspects of the West Point experience. I have also always had a patriotic bent and wanted to be an officer in the U.S. Army, so it was a natural choice.

I have many great memories of the Army but the one that really stands out was an assignment in Honduras. Our mission was largely humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, with a focus on helping the community and the region. I saw how great the impact of a few individuals could be; it was during this assignment that I opened my eyes to the possibilities of a career focused on social impact.

2) Why did you decide to leave the U.S. Army for business school? Why Harvard Business School?

My reasons for leaving the Army were two-fold. First, I felt that I had served my country well in the military, and it was time to pursue other career goals and interests outside of the service. Secondly, I hoped someday to start a family, an aspiration that is often challenging while in the military.

Harvard Business School was the obvious choice; it provided me with a ‘Swiss Army Knife’ for my career! It is a renowned business school, and one that is also very military-friendly. The institution, the professors, and the students seem to value the experience and leadership that former military students can bring to the classroom. I also wanted to learn from and with a very diverse group of impressive people; the large class size [900 students per year] made this possible, while the smaller section sizes [90 students per section] enabled me to get to know many of my classmates very well.

3) What did you gain while working as a consultant at McKinsey & Company? Was this very different than your earlier military career?

I guess you could call McKinsey the second ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of my career outside of the military! At McKinsey, I refined the tools and skills I picked up in business school, and applied them to a variety of business problems across the private and public sectors. It was very inspiring to work with extremely smart and dedicated people on a day-to-day basis.

The biggest difference between McKinsey and the US Army was the level of client interaction and relationship-building involved in consulting engagements. ‘Taking the hill’ with the client often required much more personal interaction and buy-in than required in the Army.

Manager, Performance Management, Teach For America, New York, NY
Executive Director, Teach For America, Houston, TX
Associate, New Site Development, Teach For America, New York, NY
Director, Learning and Development, Teach For America, SF, CA
Director, Planning & Analysis, Teach For America, New York, NY
Managing Director, Development, Mid-Atlantic Region, Philadelphia, PA

4) Most of my friends who leave consulting generally join companies in an operating role. What made you make the switch to Teach For America?

Actually, my position as vice president of recruitment at Teach for America is very much an operating role, albeit a non-traditional one. I oversee roughly 70 people, who are all charged with growing the organization and contributing to our mission by recruiting talented corps members from undergraduate, graduate, and professional institutions all over the country.

The most rewarding aspect of this position is that it combines what I enjoy about the operating side of organizations, with a desire to work in an organization committed to social impact. I am continuously learning at Teach For America, picking up new and valuable management and operating skills, while also engaging in the critical fight to eliminate educational inequity.

What’s important to understand for any Doostang member who is looking to make the leap to nonprofit is that it doesn’t mean that you have to check your knowledge of operating fundamentals and business principles at the door. There is plenty of opportunity to apply what you know while still learning and growing as a manager and a leader. Teach For America is a great example…it is a fast-paced, high-impact, outcomes-oriented organization, with an incredibly important mission.

5) What does a Day in life of Spencer Kympton look like at Teach For America?

Well, I woke up early today to feed my son!

Generally, I tend to be in the office at 8am. Since my direct reports and our senior management team are spread out across the country, I am on conference calls for much of the day. Managing operations from afar, which is what I do at Teach For America, is very different than being on-site every day, which is what I did at McKinsey and in the Army.

I usually leave the office at around 6pm and spend a couple of hours with my son and wife before he heads to bed at 8pm. I spend an hour or so on e-mails in the late evening, getting ready for the next business day, and head to bed shortly after that.

6) What skills from your previous experience are you leveraging now in your current role at Teach For America?

I acquired two diverse skill sets in the U.S. Army and at McKinsey & Company. The U.S. Army was primarily about people management and unit management, whereas McKinsey was more about strategically thinking about how businesses run operationally. Both of these skills are extremely important in my current role at Teach For America.

7) You have gone through two huge career changes. Any advice to our members who are looking to change careers?

Before you think about changing a job or your career make sure you have stayed in your current position long enough. Give yourself enough time to take ownership of your role and the impact you are having while in it. Your experience is what you make of it. It’s easy to lose sight of that when your fulfillment and satisfaction in the present are not what you’d hoped.

After four years at McKinsey & Company, I had worked on many fulfilling engagements. One of my last engagements involved helping the Chancellor of the D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) and her transformation team with strategic planning. The experience made me reflect on the commitment to social impact that I’d realized earlier in my career. I also realized that I wanted to have more of a hands-on role, as opposed to a consultative one. Many of the people I worked with at DCPS were Teach For America alumni. These contacts, as well as McKinsey alumni who had worked with or at Teach For America, quickly convinced me of the strength of the organization and it’s mission. They also helped me find my current position. And I’m very happy to be where I am!

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Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding college graduates and professionals who commit two years to teach in public schools in the nation’s lowest-income communities and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity.

We seek talented individuals of all backgrounds, with a strong record of achievement in their professional areas, to join our staff and play a critical role in enabling us to reach our ambitious goals. Visit our website to learn more.

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Team Doostang