Vendor Manager, Scaled Operations Google Inc.
Paralegal Graduate Pivots to Corporate Career in Business
Kurt was looking for a strong program in pre-law and evaluated many options in the region until he decided on the Paralegal program of the Lyceum of the Philippines University – Batangas. What he initially thought was a straightforward career, he didn’t realize how interesting his career trajectory would be.
“One thing I enjoyed about the university was there was so much opportunity to develop oneself beyond academics. These allowed students to get out of their comfort zone and explore other interests”. In college, he was deeply involved in extracurricular activities – he was a section editor for the University School Paper, PHOENIX, a brand ambassador for the University, presenter in academic research forums, as well as a host to many conferences and events.”
“At some point close to graduation, I felt that law school wasn’t for me. I thought about what I could do next, and I realized it would be an interesting shift to go corporate”. This realization encouraged him to finish his Masters in Business Administration at LPU-B, finishing the program at the top of his graduating MBA class and garnering the “Academic Excellence Award”, the only honor awarded to graduate students.
Upon graduation, he taught management and human behavior at the College of Business at De La Salle University where he even presented in an international conference and where he, together with colleagues, published a paper entitled “Street-based Corruption in the Philippines: Motives, Ethical Considerations and Organizational Context” in no less than a Scopus journal. “I love how LPU graduates can be very versatile – you can choose to pivot your journey at any point because the fundamentals stay with you. For starters, the chance to teach at a top university in the country opened as soon as I finished my MBA.”
Further opportunities came his way. His first role was in Account Management for a digital marketing agency. “I started as a Paralegal, and I found myself in Marketing through my MBA. I was happy but little did I know things wouldn’t stop there.” He then moved to TDCX, a boutique BPO company, as an Operations Manager for B2B marketing services.
Two years thereafter, he was promoted Senior Operations Manager and then Regional HR Marketing Manager where he helped with the talent acquisition of hundreds of people across multiple countries in Southeast Asia. “Critical thinking was a key component I learned in university. Hiring at that level of complexity required scalable and creative solutions. There was an intersection between what I learned as a paralegal and as a business student. If you can find that sweet spot, you’re able to create an impact.”
After his regional marketing stint, he joined Google where he had several roles including managing Google’s inbound sales operations for North America, UK and Ireland, driving millions of dollars in revenue in the SMB space.
Today, he is currently a Vendor Manager for Google where he is driving Google’s global support operations for its wide array of products including Google Drive and Voice to preserve the overall user experience.
“I really think LPU-B is taking the lead. More than the awards the university receives, there are thousands of successful students and graduates in multiple industries to speak about how good it is. What I loved best about the university was its culture. You can be anyone you want to be because the support system is there, and I hope a lot of people get to experience that!”
Kurt Paolo Sevillano
BA Paralegal Studies, 2010
Masters in Business Administration, 2013
Vendor Manager, Scaled Operations Google Inc.