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From the ice to the desk

By Alexandra Wertz '12
December 15, 2011

Photo by Steven Wett '15

As a varsity hockey player at St. Olaf, Charlie Raskob '12 earned all-conference honorable mention last year and is currently the third-leading scorer on this year's team.

Needless to say, he knows a thing or two about teamwork.

And the skills he's picked up on the ice — along with the experience he gained during an internship at Target Corporation this summer and the resources available in the St. Olaf Center for Experiential Learning — helped him land a full-time position as a business analyst at the Fortune 500 company.

"Knowing how to work well within a team really paid off, as Target is structured around a team format," says Raskob, a biology major with a management studies concentration. "My boss and mentor both acknowledged my ability to work with people and to keep our team of interns working together toward our final goal."

Raskob's project-based internship at Target last summer was "basically a preview of the business analyst position," he says. His new job responsibilities will include overseeing a number of products, handling item purchasing, and getting products to Target stores in appropriate amounts.

In order to land his internship at Target, Raskob made use of St. Olaf's Center for Experiential Learning (CEL). He first brought his resume in for proofing. "They made sure the wording and everything made sense and conveyed the right message in a convincing way," Raskob says. He also did two practice interviews. "The practice interviews helped me feel more comfortable, prepare for the questions I was likely to hear, and focus on some of the smaller details that could clean up my interview." Raskob ultimately landed the internship by applying through the CEL.

Raskob's experiences at St. Olaf both on and off the ice have resulted in a job offer six months before graduation. "I think St. Olaf taught me to be very good at learning," Raskob says. "I wasn't necessarily the smartest kid in my class or on my team, but I think I was one of the most adaptable. My diverse knowledge allowed me to really feel comfortable in many situations, and I think a lot of that is due to St. Olaf and the wide variety of classes I've taken."

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.