Azfer Saeed

BS 2006 business administration

As an international student from Pakistan, Azfer Saeed needed to find an employer who would sponsor his work visa after graduation. It would take over a year, and a great deal of hard work, but Saeed finally got his visa sponsorship in late 2007 and was working.

There was just one problem. He found himself in an IT role that was boring and unfulfilling. "At that point, I had to figure out what I really wanted to do with my life," he says. "And life has a funny way of working out. There was something better in store for me that I didn't realize at the time."

Saeed eventually took a new job as a product specialist for a company called GlobalSubmit, where he marketed and sold pharmaceutical software to the life sciences industry and government agencies. While there, Saeed was part of a website redesign project which ignited in him an interest in analytics and digital marketing.

"There was something about analytics that I really enjoyed," he says. "Naturally I'm very curious and I like to ask a lot of questions. And I always wanted to get back into a quantitative field, using math and numbers to figure out solutions. That's what I went to Drexel for."

Saeed's natural inquisitiveness kicked in, and he set out to learn as much as he could about this possible new career path.

"I always made sure to read Drexel literature and look at whatever Drexel sent me, and I remember reading about Jamie Blomquist in the 40 Under 40 issue of the Drexel Magazine [Winter, 2013]," he says.

Blomquist is a 2010 Drexel graduate and a Director of Sales & Business Development at Seer Interactive, an SEO, paid search and analytics agency in Philadelphia.

"Everything that she was doing – digital marketing, web and search analytics - this was what I wanted to learn more about. She was who I needed to talk to," says Saeed. "So, I reached out to her through LinkedIn, and we met and talked about the industry. At that point I was just gathering information. I was asking Jamie for advice, not for a job."

Saeed says that over time he continued to keep in touch with his Drexel connection at Seer, asking her for tips and advice on what networking opportunities and conferences he should attend.

Then, one day, he got the call.

Two years after his initial meeting with Blomquist, Saeed got a phone call from someone in the human resources department at Seer Interactive.

"Jamie mentioned that you have a dream to pursue a career in analytics," the voice on the other line said. "If this is still the case, I would like to talk to you."

"I jumped on that right away!" Saeed recalls. "I said to my wife, 'Is this really happening?' I was blown away."

Saeed has been employed at Seer for the past year, helping his clients reach their goals by analyzing customer activity through website analytics.

"It's a lot of fun to work at Seer and I feel like I'm doing something worthwhile," says Saeed. "You hear celebrities say that they're so lucky to be doing what they love every day, and now I can say that too. And it's because of Drexel."

Looking back, Saeed says that he wishes he had reached out to fellow Drexel grads sooner – like in 2007 when he was struggling to secure a work visa and worried he would have to leave the United States.

"I remember the first time I met with Jamie I thanked her for taking the time to meet with me," says Saeed. "And she said to me, 'Of course, anything for a Drexel connection. That's what we do.' And it just made me realize that college was a really, really important part of my life and it didn't have to end when I graduated. Drexel has a huge alumni network that we are all part of."

Saeed says that after this experience, he would definitely offer his advice and guidance to a fellow graduate who needs it.

"I want to share my story so that people know that Drexel alumni are happy to help each other out," says Saeed. "Drexel is a really good school and being an alum is like being part of a community."

Do you have a story like Saeed's? Did the Drexel network help you make a valuable connection – professionally or personally? Share your story with us at alumni@drexel.edu, and we just might share it in an upcoming issue of Drexel Details.