A Conversation with Class of 2025 Alum Haider Gillani

What career opportunity are you pursuing after graduating from Minerva?

I'll be working at HP as an AI Engineer. I want to work in the industry of AI and the rapidly evolving tech.

What led you to this opportunity? What help did you receive from your peers, alumni, or the Coaching and Talent Development team (CTD) in your journey to this position?

Throughout my application cycle, I received a lot of guidance and support from my peers at Minerva and my CTD coach, Mateo. I remember, even when prepping for my final interview on a car ride in Scotland, I was talking to a couple of my Class of 2025 friends and brainstorming different ideas and tips for the interview with my hiring manager.

What skills have you acquired during your studies at Minerva that you believe made you stand out?

I believe the most important skill Minerva taught me is how to learn, which has been very valuable for me, especially in a rapidly changing and ever-evolving world as we see it today. With new innovations and new technologies being released every day, it helps to have a strong sense of how to adapt and learn to master new things, something Minerva instilled in me over the past 4 years.

What experiences—academic, professional, or personal—during your global rotation had the biggest impact on your growth?

It's pretty crazy to think I spent the last 4 years with people from corners of the world I had never even heard about before Minerva. Life at Minerva has been a conglomerate of quite a few life-changing experiences. 

One of the most significant and fun ones has been to host multiple Minerva events, such as Quinquatria and Friendsgiving, throughout the years. From the starting point of putting together a theme, writing a script as fitting and engaging as the talented performers, to intentionally carving out the little details that would make an event not just memorable in retrospect, but also enticing and full of laughter in the moment.

This engraved in me a sense of flair, confidence, passion for entertainment, and the utmost consideration to stand up for every individual in my community.

Can you share a (civic) project or internship you’re especially proud of from your time at Minerva?

A civic project I'm still pretty amazed by was on the war in Ukraine during the Taiwanese semester. 

We worked with the Taiwanese Digital Diplomacy Association (TDDA) to analyze how President Zelenskyy communicated with Ukrainian citizens in wartime through various social media platforms and news outlets. By analyzing sentiments and topics expressed by the President and people's reactions to those posts, we evaluated how the President communicated to maintain hope and strength internally within the country. This report was to be used by the TDDA to help the Taiwanese government identify best practices to communicate with citizens during times of conflict.

What makes me proud is how we were able to contribute in even the smallest of ways to an issue so pressing and significant.

How has Minerva’s global and interdisciplinary approach shaped the way you think about your career or long-term goals?

During our semester in Argentina, my roommate and I were talking about how there has been no recent democratic election in our home country or most other countries, where we truly believe in the elected officials. What this meant for me was how I could take agency in contributing my part to make the situation better. Minerva's global lens has taught me that the craziest of dreams are possible, and if not for us to try to change the world, who will? I now view my role as one with a higher responsibility to try to tackle the biggest problems unsolved for the people around me, be it the political or economic instability in Pakistan, or the exponentially evolving promise of AI.

What’s something unexpected you’ve learned about yourself during your time at Minerva?

As I leave Minerva, a big part of me craves challenges, seeks impact, and aims to explore new walks of life. I learned that I do not want to be confined to a certain career. I want to try new things, fail, learn, try again, overcome the challenges in that field, and then move on to another set of life's challenges. 

I believe everything is possible, be it the most rote career of applying AI to solve people's problems, being a theatrical performer in a movie or play, or taking on the dated but deeply rooted, corrupted systems of bureaucracy and politics in my country, Pakistan. Minerva taught me to dream big, and dream big I shall.

What advice would you give to peers or younger students regarding finding and leveraging professional opportunities in your industry?

I believe the goal state should be to become an industry expert in any industry of your choosing. This can be done by always being in the know about the new stuff coming out and how the industry is evolving. Furthermore, trying to become an industry expert will give you a lot of credibility and profile when networking or applying for jobs.

‍If you were inspired by Haider's story and are seeking a college experience that will teach you valuable pragmatic skills that will enable you to change the world, consider applying to Minerva.