How City Tutors Helps Career Switchers Build a Network Fast

Sadhvi Grover was already well into her professional life when she encountered The City Tutors.

She had spent eight years working across human resources, employee experience, and enterprise project management, and was completing a master’s degree in business analytics at Baruch College. She was preparing to graduate in Fall 2025 and thinking carefully about what came next: how to position her experience, which industries to explore, and how to move with intention.

She learned about City Tutors through a campus email shared during a Graduate Career Management Center (GCMC) event. She opened the link, left it open longer than she usually would, and eventually signed up. At the time, she did not attach much significance to the decision.

Within weeks, it reshaped her semester.

Entering the Room

Sadhvi attended her first City Tutors event in October 2025, a mentorship event hosted by Enstar. She arrived curious, observant, and prepared. What she noticed immediately was the atmosphere: conversations moved quickly into substance, mentors asked follow-up questions, and participants were given space to talk through their thinking.

What stayed with her most was how the mentors engaged.

“They were listening,” she said. “They showed real interest in our stories.”

As the event ended, mentors remained in the room, continuing conversations, answering questions, and encouraging follow-up. For Sadhvi, that moment carried weight. It lowered the psychological distance between where she stood and where these professionals were.

Afterward, she connected with a mentor on LinkedIn. That follow-up reinforced something important: the conversations were meant to continue.

Building Rhythm Through Repetition

Over the following two months, Sadhvi became a regular presence at City Tutors events. She attended sessions across insurance, consulting, green technology, finance, and data-focused roles. Rather than seeking immediate outcomes, she treated each event as an opportunity to understand how skills moved across industries.

She prepared deliberately. Before each event, she researched speakers and organizations. During sessions, she took notes. Afterward, she reviewed conversations and reached out with thoughtful follow-ups. Drawing on her background as an interviewer, she focused on listening closely and asking questions shaped by what she heard in real time.

That approach changed how she experienced each event. Conversations became more layered. Mentors responded with specificity. In several cases, professionals reached out to her directly to continue the discussion.

Each interaction added texture to her understanding of the working world and helped her evaluate where her background might fit most naturally.

Seeing Possibility Up Close

One of the most formative experiences came at a mentorship event hosted by Slalom Consulting at the World Trade Center. Sadhvi had visited the site before, but entering the space as a participant shifted her perspective.

“The view was incredible,” she said. “Everyone had their cameras out.”

The setting mattered, but the structure mattered more. The event paired consultants with a professional from Goldman Sachs, offering insight from both sides of the client relationship. For Sadhvi, who had worked in internal enterprise roles, the discussion clarified how consulting functions in practice: why organizations bring in external partners, how expertise is deployed, and how careers develop over time.

That evening sharpened her interest in consulting as a post-graduation path. She left with a clearer framework for evaluating roles and a stronger sense of how her experience translated across contexts.

Shifts That Accumulated

By December, the impact of sustained engagement had become visible.

Sadhvi described feeling more confident initiating conversations, more comfortable navigating professional spaces, and more deliberate in how she assessed opportunities. She spoke about gaining clarity through exposure: learning how roles evolve, how professionals explain their work, and how careers unfold without following a single template.

“I found City Tutors at the right time,” she said. “It builds confidence and ownership.”

Her involvement also prompted a shift in how she saw herself within the ecosystem. As graduation approached, she asked about ways to contribute, particularly through data and program support, areas aligned with both her academic training and the organization’s growing operational needs.

Why This Story Matters

Sadhvi’s experience reflects a common reality for graduate students, international students, and career switchers: capability and motivation are often present before access is.

Through repeated, low-barrier interactions with professionals across industries, City Tutors provided Sadhvi with the opportunity to test ideas, build confidence through practice, and develop clarity over time. The program supported her in building momentum she could sustain.

She entered looking for perspective.

She emerged with a stronger sense of direction and the confidence to keep moving forward.