Seth Singer ’17, remembers being inspired by his aunt, who ran an information technology business. It was something that launched his interest in the field.
When it came time for the New York City native to visit colleges, Singer knew he wanted a career in IT. He checked out Syracuse University and liked the smaller feel of the school.
“That felt comforting,” recalled Singer, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Information Management and Technology.
During his time at the University, he served on the peer advising group to mentor incoming freshmen.
“My experience was great,” Singer said. “I really enjoyed the coursework and the professors there.” He also liked the labs at the school, which were a big draw.
In his junior year, Singer had the chance to take a class that was facilitated by employees from Ernst and Young (EY). As part of the classwork, the students had to run hypothetical simulations of situations they’d likely see in the professional world. Specifically, Singer got to engage in disaster recovery planning for an international bank.
It was refreshing to apply what he was learning in class to a scenario that actual professionals had to navigate. The lessons also helped him segment and organize information and tasks so he could understand how he would proceed in that situation, he recalled.
“That type of case helped spark the type of thought processes that I take to my work now,” said Singer.
The connections made in that class also catapulted Singer into an internship at EY while he was still a student. Looking back on the experience, Singer said he hopes current iSchool students take their internships seriously.
“You can transition from that internship to get a full-time job,” he noted.
Singer’s interactions with EY went beyond being a student at Syracuse, as he secured a job at EY upon graduation and spent four years with the company.
Singer, now a senior product manager for Oracle, oversees product strategy for customer experience applications within the Fusion cloud application suite.
It’s not as much of a technical role, though his IT education from Syracuse gave him the foundation to take on the job.
“Success in this role comes down to communication skills,” Singer said. That is, he has to make sure communication flows from engineering and development teams to the sales personnel. He manages go-to-market strategy and identifies which industries are an ideal fit for sales. It’s his job to bridge that gap, as the salespeople need to understand technical basics in order to sell the products. He educates sales personnel on the latest releases, helping them to grasp the relevance and functionality of the products.
Singer also uses his IT knowledge to inform other managers and executives about how the products are doing post-launch. He has to integrate what he sees going on in the market to make suggestions to tweak and improve existing products, offering up insights to drive the development of new offerings, too.
The coursework at iSchool gave him the fundamentals to excel in his job, said Singer.
“Where I’ve succeeded in both roles, from EY to Oracle, is in my executive presence, and in being able to present concepts and information,” Singer said.