For students at Ithaca College, future career opportunities may seem daunting. But surveys indicate that 97 percent of students find a job or enter graduate school within a year of graduation. Contributing writers Moira Colley and Danielle Paccione spoke to six recent alumni from each school about their experiences after graduation.

Name Kelli B. Grant ’04
Major Journalism
Current employer/position Consumer Reporter for Smartmoney.com
Location New York City
What she does Grant writes a column twice a week called “Deal of the Day,” which features articles on anything from credit cards for college students to hidden telephone fees. Grant studies spending habits and develops ways to help people save money. After graduating from the college, Grant began working for MarketWatch.com as a reporter and assistant columnist. She also took a foods writing course at the French Culinary Institute and taught advanced-track high school students in a summer program. Grant has also freelanced for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal Sunday. She appeared on CNN Headline News and other television and radio stations.
What got her there In college, Grant was a writer and editor for The Ithacan, and received awards for in-depth reporting and general news reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists and the New York Press Association. She also worked as a reporter for The Ithaca Journal, the Elmira Star-Gazette and Air & Space Smithsonian.
“Employers don’t want to see that you just went to class,” Grant said. “They want to see that you are practiced in your field.”
Challenges Being taken seriously as a journalist while still a student was difficult. “There’s a definite prejudice that because you’re a student, you can’t possibly know enough to do the job well,” Grant said.