UBC Alumni Affairs
Carmen Lee, BA’01, loves her job, and volunteers to help students find the same level of satisfaction in their future careers.
Carmen Lee, BA’01
Carmen Lee is someone who wears many hats. Somewhere between working as the marketing manager for a global consulting company, kneading dough as a culinary student, taking classes on image consultancy, and refining her palate through involvement with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, she finds time to help UBC students and young alumni tread the oft-perilous path towards professional fulfillment as a volunteer with Career Services.
Carmen describes volunteering as part of her lifestyle. It’s a value that’s been ingrained in her since she was young. As a UBC student she volunteered for student organizations such as Imagine UBC, and the Political Science Students’ Association. Through these roles she built valuable relationships at UBC, many of which lasted long after graduation.
Carmen graduated from UBC in 2001, at a time when the job market was still reeling from the bust of the dot-com bubble. Armed with a degree, yet unable to officially declare the end of her days as a ‘starving student’ Carmen’s career path reached a crossroads early on. She could have chosen the path where many political science students had gone before, law school, or she could tap into her natural abilities as a people-person and pursue a career in communications. After completing the LSAT, and on the verge of applying to law schools, Carmen made a career defining (and much less expensive) detour and enrolled in the one year Corporate Communications program at Seneca College in Toronto. Shortly after graduating, opportunity knocked in the form of a marketing internship with Deloitte, a firm that consults Fortune 500 and 1000 companies and that employs more than 100,000 people worldwide. Marketing presented Carmen with a learning curve, but one that excited, rather than intimidated, her.
Even though Carmen has been at Deloitte for nine years now, she still talks about her job with as much passion as she had on the first day. She remembers her time at UBC with a fondness that inspired her to return to campus as a volunteer. She now lends her time and talent to a number of organizations at UBC such as the Alumni Association, Career Services and the Faculty of Arts’ Tri-Mentoring Program.
Carmen has provided career and interview advice to students, a role she takes seriously since mentors have been important in her own life. Whether it was her elementary school teacher who taught her to take risks, or her professor at UBC who encouraged her to take learning beyond the classroom, Carmen knows the importance of good advice.
As a volunteer, she continues to help others understand the importance of relationship development and communications, skills she learned at UBC that have helped her navigate successfully through work and life.
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