Akhil is a Corporate Account Manager for Palo Alto Networks, a cybersecurity company in the Bay area.
Roadmap.
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"Grades, test scores, GPA are great. But experience and your network are really what take your career to the next level. Have an idea of what you want to do and find someone that does that currently. Ask him or her to mentor you, develop a relationship, and cultivate it."
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MILESTONES
My career roadmap has been all over the place.
Mr. Walker’s Honors History/Government course was a significant influence for my pursuit for politics. At the time, I wanted to pursue a career in DC.
After graduating from AOC in 2013, I continued my education at COC to complete a Political Science AA Degree. I also joined the ModelUN team and the Political Science Club.
I transferred to UCLA in 2014 to pursue my Bachelor's in Political Science and Government. I became heavily involved with Student Government, specifically the Undergraduate Students Association Council.
In 2016, things would change however. To me, Trump’s election was a clear sign that pursuing a career Washington DC/career in politics was NOT the place for me post-grad.
My interests shifted towards technology and entrepreneurship. I graduated from UCLA in 2017 with my Political Science degree, but I look onward towards developing a tech background.
I applied and gained acceptance to SVAcademy (https://sv.academy/), a business development fellowship program that empowers entrepreneurs to pursue jobs in tech.
In 2017, I was hired at Evident.io, a small cloud security start-up in the San Francisco Bay Area. I worked as a Entreprise Business Development Representative and a Commercial Sales Development Representative.
Palo Alto Networks acquired Evident.io in 2019. I continued to work for them, as I rose from a business development representative to a Corporate Account Executive, which is the position that I occupy now.
EXPERIENCE
Here are my extracurriculars relevant to this pathway
DURING MY HIGH SCHOOL CAREER
AOC TV
AOC PoliSci and Debate Club
JSA (Junior Statesman of America)
City of Santa Clarita Visions in Progress Youth Advisory Committee
AOC ASB Senior VP
City of Santa Clarita Parks and Rec Intern
DURING MY COLLEGE CAREER
UCLA Alumni Student Fundraiser
Bruins United and Undergraduate Students Association Council (Student Government)
American Israel Public Affairs Committee Fellow and Intern
SVAcademy Fellow
CAREER
What I'm currently doing/hope to do
ADVICE
How to maximize my time in high school?
Advice #1: INTERNSHIPS, INTERNSHIPS, INTERNSHIPS. Number 1 advice. Grades, test scores, GPA are great. But experience and your network are really what take your career to the next level. Have an idea of what you want to do and find someone that does that currently. Ask him or her to mentor you, develop a relationship, and cultivate it. From that you can get access to internships which will fill you with invaluable experience. IMO more important than what a transcript can show.
