Alexa Hammel is the Senior Associate Director for Partnerships at Beyond Barnard and has worked at the Beyond Barnard office since 2015, both in career advising and employer relations. Prior to joining the office, she worked as a recruiter at a variety of financial service firms. Alexa has an MA in higher and postsecondary education from Teachers College and a BA in Psychology from Barnard College. Originally from Long Island, Alexa currently resides on the UWS.
If you could speak to your college self, what advice would you give them?
I would say keep planning, but expect the unexpected. As I say to students, post-college is one of the first experiences where the next step is not guaranteed and despite all of your hard work, you may not get the result you were hoping for. While I thought my career journey would go in a very specific direction, it turned out that I ended up somewhere completely different, but exactly where I was meant to be and where I started — at Barnard! Taking the time to pause, reevaluate, and ask yourself “does this make me happy” is crucial for longevity in any career.
What is your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part of working at Beyond Barnard is giving back to the community that has shaped me into the person I am today. Graduating from Barnard College and having been in the same seat, (literally and figuratively) as the students I advise, is a surreal experience. To say to students that I have been there and felt that, but came out on the other side, builds a unique and special rapport. When students land their dream jobs, I think to myself, “There are more Barnard graduates ready to change the world” and I pride myself on being part of that future.