FEATURE
SJSU’s Career Center is a Hidden Gem on Campus
By Rhoda Shapiro
Tucked away on the second floor of San José State’s administration building on San Fernando Street, the Career Center is a space that brims with opportunity.
Whether it’s providing career counseling, headshots, networking opportunities or a professional outfit to wear on a job interview, the Career Center is a hidden gem on campus; one focused on cultivating career experiences for students all across SJSU.
During the 2022-2023 academic year, the Career Center directly served 19,847 students.
“What we’re doing at the Career Center is building the workforce of the future. We’re creating opportunities for students to get engaged in career readiness,” says Bobbi Makani, Ph.D., who serves as the center’s executive director.
Makani is quick to mention that although the center has created opportunities leading to the employment of students, the center’s function isn’t that of a placement agency.
“I see our job here as helping our students transition from being young adults to slowly becoming professionals,” says Makani. “They need to start preparing for professional life on day one of college.”
Right after graduation, Rhea Michael, ’23 Biomedical Engineering, was able to secure a full-time position as a quality assurance data analyst at Azenta Life Sciences in Burlington, Massachusetts. The support she received from the Career Center was instrumental in preparing her to land the position.
“I utilized interview and resume building workshops and additional resources from the Career Center to brush up on my resume and interviewing skills,” says Michael. “I was surprised to check out the wide variety of resources available to me as a proud Spartan.”
Ryan Kim, ’22 Engineering Technology, received a job offer as a junior engineer for BART soon after he graduated.
“I wouldn’t currently be working in this position if it wasn’t for the help of the Career Center and Career Counselor Kelly Masegian,” says Kim. “She helped with my resume and prepared me for interviews. I’m so grateful.”
David Poirier, ’19 Business, ’24 MBA, currently works as an employer engagement specialist at the Career Center. Says Poirier, “We want to make sure our students get the best opportunities in Silicon Valley — and elsewhere throughout the nation — with all types of different employers.”
The team at the Career Center provides career education, coaching, job/internship opportunities and employee events for all students at SJSU. During the 2023–2024 academic year, the Career Center hosted 13 career fairs, which 370 employers participated in. Photo: Jessica Gilges, '23 Business Administration.
“So many opportunities and experiences came from my attending those events. It was good practice preparing for professional life later on.”
— Lorna Vazquez
The team
Although the Career Center team is small, they pack a punch. Between all 20 of them, they’re able to offer a tremendous amount of resources and services while also planning over 100 events per school year.
Since the team is small compared to the 36,000 student body, and can’t realistically sit down to work with every single student on campus, they also recommend students use free digital apps, like SJSU Handshake, Focus2 and VMock. These apps can help students by providing career planning assessment tools, online resume review and access to job opportunities.
Almost half of the staff are alumni of San José State.
Lorna Vasquez, ’20 Business Administration, works as the operations and projects specialist at the Career Center. While she was a student at SJSU, she was able to practice her interviewing skills and connect with recruiters through job fairs and workshops hosted by the center. Knowing how impactful these experiences were makes Vasquez feel even more committed to the work she is doing at the center.
“So many opportunities and experiences came from my attending those events,” says Vasquez. “It was good practice preparing for professional life later on.”
For the past six years, Sandra De Leon, ’13 MA Counselor Education, has been working as a career counselor for the diversity and equity program in career readiness. While she was an undergrad, De Leon remembers feeling lost in terms of what she wanted to pursue career-wise, and she can deeply relate to students who are undergoing the same issue.
“What has kept me at the Career Center for six years now… it really is the team. I think we have a great team that is cohesive and collaborative,” shares De Leon. “We often say there are no egos in our office. People genuinely want to help and put their best foot forward for the greater good of our students.”
Christa Bacon, ’11 MA Counselor Education, assistant director of resources and operations, has been working at the Career Center for the past 11 years. After graduation, she worked for an architecture firm. But soon after she got there, she started feeling a disconnect between the purpose and the work. When she started working at the Career Center, things shifted.
“I felt more meaning and purpose in higher education than in the corporate world,” says Bacon. “I like the mission of the Career Center and the university. I like the energy of a higher education campus. It’s about excitement, possibility and helping others.”
“While students are at the university, we can help them define who they want to be — and also help them to reach their greatest potential.”
— Bobbi Makani
Photo: Robert C. Bain.
Events and presentations
To build awareness of their presence, staff from the Career Center visit classrooms across campus to give presentations to students about the available services and resources.
Throughout the year, the Career Center hosts a myriad of events, including resume-writing workshops; college to career bootcamps; and webinars on how to navigate interviews, network effectively and conduct a successful job or internship hunt.
Along with these events, the center schedules information sessions where representatives from companies like Google, Intel, Kohls, Walmart and Amazon visit campus to talk about what opportunities they have available. For the spring 2023 semester alone, the Career Center held 23 of these info sessions, which have helped students understand the ways their studies can translate into working for a multitude of companies.
For example, with a company like Walmart, students might only think of jobs as they apply to retail. However, there are many facets to Walmart, which employs data scientists, software engineers and UX designers.
Students also learn more about various companies at job fairs, signature events that the Career Center organizes every semester. At these fairs, students have a chance to meet with prospective employers and possibly even find jobs. Before the job fairs, Career Center representatives support students, preparing them for interviews and helping them consider how to present themselves.
With several job fairs being held every semester, SJSU students are able to connect with representatives from a wide variety of companies to discuss internship and job opportunities. Photos: Robert C. Bain.
Partnerships
Throughout the years, the Career Center has put a great deal of focus and effort toward nurturing partnerships and collaborating with different entities. During the spring 2023 semester, the center partnered with the City of San José to host the Explore Careers at the City, an event at the San José City Hall.
The event was attended by close to 400 students, who heard about job and internship opportunities the City of San José has across all its departments. Both San José Mayor Matt Mahan and SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson spoke at the event. Since it was such a success, there are plans to bring it back in March 2024.
“The City of San José is proud to partner with San José State University to inspire students to consider careers in public service,” shares Kelli Parmley, who is an assistant director in the human resource department of the City of San José. “The Explore Careers at the City day was a great opportunity to show students that they can start their careers in SJSU’s backyard working at the airport, the zoo or anywhere in between.”
Along with partnering with the city and other companies, the Career Center also collaborates with various departments throughout SJSU. They work with the academic advising department to host webinars about exploring different majors. They even work with professors, sharing career readiness courses for them to integrate into their curriculum for students to take.
Through all these opportunities, students not only ready themselves for a career, but also build a career portfolio with skills in communication, teamwork and leadership.
Looking to the future
Big things are on the horizon for the Career Center. During the 2023–2024 academic year, the center is hosting two new engagement programs for students. The programs, which function as summits, introduce students to various industries so they can explore different career options. Makani feels this will help to bring attention to courses that might have lower enrollment because students are not as aware of the career opportunities available through those majors.
This fall, the Career Center is also investing in a professional photo booth so students can drop in and get free headshots at any time. Having the photo booth setup allows them to offer free headshots not only to students, but to staff and faculty as well.
The center will also pilot a job shadow program in April 2024. Students can sign up for the program to be matched with different employers to shadow during spring break.
Makani sums up the Career Center’s major priority as follows: “While students are at the university, we can help them define who they want to be — and also help them to reach their greatest potential.”
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