As the end of the year and graduation is near, talk of summer plans and jobs offers is floating in the air! This week, I took the chance to catch up with Brandeis Alum Jenn Sheehan. Jenn’s insight about her awesome new job and her life after college offers something for everyone. Seniors, although you might be kicking yourself (I know I am!) about having only a few more weeks to reap the benefits of Edhance (the company Jenn works for that specializes in discounts and rewards for college students), Jenn is the perfect example of how exciting life after college can be. And for the rest of you lucky undergraduates, I suggest you read what Jenn has to say below and sign up for Edhance as fast as you can!
Name: Jenn Sheehan
Graduation Year: 2009
Major: English and American Literature, minors in Internet Studies and Journalism
HC: You work for a company called Edhance, a website that gives discounts and cash back to students. How does it work?
JS: Edhance is a free rewards program available exclusively for college students. By registering a credit or debit card with Edhance, you automatically get discounts and cash back every time you shop at one of our partners in-store or online. Once you earn cash back through one of our partners or exclusive links, we pass those savings back onto your card through your Edhance account. There are over 600 online deals and in-store deals in cities all over the country, from dorm supplies to clothes to computers. It’s easy—Edhance gives you student discounts without the hassle of having to remember to show your student ID or use a student savings card. If you want to learn more, visit Edhance.com.
HC: How often does Edhance change their discounts?
JS: We’re adding new deals all the time, both in-store and online. One of our campaigns for back-to-school is working with the merchants we know students love to develop even better discounts for the back-to-school season, which can be an expensive time for students. We constantly strive to get students the best deals, but in terms of change, the biggest would be our constantly growing list of merchants.
HC: What does your position entail?
JS: The great thing about working for a start-up is that there is no easy answer to this question! Most days, I handle our internal marketing efforts—creating and sending email campaigns, monitoring and changing site content, developing SEO [search engine optimization] strategies, writing for and managing our blog and team of student bloggers and running our social media. My strongest suit is probably writing, so I’m called on to edit and copy write often, which I love.
HC: How did Brandeis help you prepare for life after college? Edhance in particular?
JS: My Brandeis education for one has taught me to think analytically as well as critically and taught me how to express myself clearly and concisely, three things that have helped me navigate every project I’ve been given. The opportunities studying at Brandeis gave to me also helped—from my a cappella group at Brandeis, I went on to help found a professional group, Cape Harmony, and experience my first sort of “start-up” after freshman year. Without my journalism and computer science classes, I wouldn’t be nearly as able to do the writing and coding I do for Edhance every day.
HC: Did you use Edhance while you were at Brandeis?
JS: I wish! Edhance launched in 2009, after I had graduated. However, Edhance got its start as an off-shoot of StudentUniverse, which I used all through college.
HC: What money saving tricks helped get you through college?
JS: In college, I was super careful to only get what I truly needed. I reused notebooks I didn’t fill, brought most of my dorm stuff from home, only ate out on weekends (maybe too much Usdan…) and I rarely bought books new. After the beginning of my sophomore year, I rarely bought books at all. I’d get them from the reserve desk at the library when I needed them. It saved me hundreds of dollars, and it also forced me into good study habits—I had to do the reading early to guarantee I’d get the book, I’d only have it for 2-hour periods which required me to focus, and I had to read it in the library, where I was far more productive than in my dorm room. Spending so much money on books seemed silly to me when they were all in the library for free!
HC: What about seniors about to graduate? Can they use Edhance too?
JS: Seniors can use Edhance until graduation. It’s free to sign up, so really there isn’t anything to lose. I needed a new computer by the time I graduated, and I wish Edhance had been around then—we offer additional discounts on the Apple Education Store, up to 13 percent! There are tons of travel discounts for any seniors planning trips for the summer (check out StudentUniverse or hotels.com) and, of course, discounts on everything you need for a successful job search—from folios to work clothes to discount memberships at SnagAJob. And if you’re anything like me, the opportunity to get discounts on shoes is not one you want to miss! The great thing about all these deals in particular is that they’re all online, so you can order what you need without having to catch the BranVan or bum a ride or take the shuttle to get great savings.
HC: What do you miss most about Brandeis?
JS: This probably sounds really cheesy, but the best way I can think to put it is that I miss the community at Brandeis. I miss living with my friends all in one place the most, and from time to time I miss setting my own schedule and doing things for the sole purpose of expanding my own knowledge. I don’t think I fully appreciated or understood what a remarkable group of people there were at Brandeis when I was there; I miss constantly being around people with diverse interests and passions from whom I was learning something new always.
HC: If there was only one thing you’d want Her Campus readers to know about you or Edhance, what would it be?
JS: It’s hard to choose just one! Edhance is easy to use, safe and will save you a bunch of money on everything you need for school and beyond. In more fun news, we have an office band in which I am the lead singer, and we practice every Thursday after work. My coworkers are super talented, and it’s so much fun! Our bassist just got a melodica, which he uses to play Sexy Saxagrams every once in a while (you should Google both of those things).
To check out all the great deals that Edhance has to offer and to register, go to http://www.edhance.com/!
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Brandeis chapter.