SJSU al umni and faculty offer tips, hands-on training and sage advice to students graduating into the "real world."
Juan Escobar's life went into overdrive when he received two irresistible internship offers last spring.
"It took a lot of planning on Google maps to figure out how I would manage my internships in Redwood City and Palo Alto, classes at San José State and my leadership role with the Latino Business Students Association," says the SJSU business major. "My day would start at 5:30 am and end at 10 pm -- if I was lucky."
Although taking on both internships meant Escobar essentially didn't have a life, he says it was an experience he wouldn't trade for anything.
"Who says no to bigwigs like DreamWorks Animation and IDEO?" he asks animatedly. "Just getting your foot in those organizations is a big deal. I knew it was going to be crazy managing everything, but I also knew it would pay off in the long run."
Escobar was right. The connections he made at those two companies have been critical to his self-discovery. "I came out of my comfort zone and learned how the business world works," says the sprightly 28-year-old. "Classroom learning only does so much ... you have to step out into the world for those real life lessons."
There's no doubt that internships have become essential components of the educational experience, and SJSU alumni and faculty are helping students like Escobar realize their dreams.
"In such a tough economy, it is obvious that students need to go the extra mile to land a job," says Alan Wong, '89 Physics, president of the Corporate Asian American Employee Network. "Students can work hard to get good grades but may not have access to contacts within companies. That's where alumni come in -- we can make a real difference by sharing our knowledge, experience and contacts."
The Corporate Asian American Employee Network offers professional networking events and leadership development programs led by company executives that target employees at HP, Google, Kaiser Permanente,VISA and other Bay Area companies. After seeing how much the employees benefited from mentorship, Wong wondered if those employees would, in turn, become mentors for SJSU students. "I found it natural to bring both these parties together," he says.
An idea was born. Recently Wong initiated a mentoring program within SJSU's College of Science. The program particularly emphasizes soft skills development. "People skills often determine how efficient an employee can be," he explains. "For science students, or those in other technical disciplines, soft skills tend to be the weak link and could be a limiting factor for employment, especially in such a poor economy."
Susie Sahim, '07 BFA, used her summer internship at Google to showcase her "hard" and soft skills talents. The result? A full-time job.
"An internship is like a test run," says Sahim, who works with Google's graphics team creating illustrations on the Google home page for millions to see. "The company gets to feel you out and see how well you adapt to the new environment in 12 weeks. If you jive well with the company, then it's possible for that internship to turn into a permanent position. But even if it doesn't, that internship can open the door to new opportunities."
Sahim returned to campus this summer as a prospective employer. "Since I have firsthand knowledge of the animation/ illustration department, I know what the students here are capable of," she says. "What's unique about this program is that all the students have very strong drawing fundamentals -- something that's severely lacking in many art schools across the country." SJSU students have also worked digitally on large projects with "lots of restrictions," Sahim notes. "SJSU tries to simulate the work environment as closely as possible, including scenarios of tight deadlines and harsh critique of the artwork," she explains. " My entire team was very impressed with the skill level of the graduating students. If we do end up hiring a new graduate from SJSU, I'll definitely be mentoring."
"Our students are very application oriented and visual," says Fred Barez, professor and department chair for mechanical and aerospace engineering at SJSU. "It's important for them to see where they may end up working."
Barez regularly takes his students on visits to local companies such as Cisco, NASA Ames Research Center, the Tech Museum and BAE Systems. He also invites engineering alumni and professionals to speak in his classes. "They can give students a firsthand account of the great engineering opportunities and challenges that lie ahead and of the companies' expectations of new graduates," he relates. "We teach time management, resume writing, interview preparation, and simulate ethical situations and behavior, but it's seeing alumni in action that stays with students."
Michael Rose, '91 Finance, managing partner of Montage Capital, believes bringing professionals on campus helps the university build relationships with local companies. "It also helps maintain SJSU's reputation of delivering high-quality students who are prepared and valuable to businesses upon graduation," he says. Rose mentored one of the winning teams of the Silicon Valley Business Competition Plan this year. "I enjoyed sharing my knowledge of the startup process. If I can bridge the gap between the academic idea of a business plan and the real world components that matter in selling the idea to investors, I've given something of real value to the students."
The SJSU Career Center also does its best to leverage its connections with alumni. "Many of our students have not had career coaching from family members and have no idea how to go through this maze of college, let alone find an internship or job," says Susan Rockwell, assistant director of employer services at the career center. "We've invited alumni to give panel presentations about how students can leverage their classroom project into something that could be of value to an employer. Increasingly employers are expecting students to have had an internship experience by the time they graduate … we're trying our best to give them those opportunities."
Angela Wayfer, internship program specialist with the career center, offers students an important bit of advice that she's gleaned from employers: "Don't go with the expectation that you'll find that dream job right after graduation. Your career is going to have several levels and multiple paths, so think broadly and keep an open mind."
Juan Escobar is following that piece of advice keenly. In addition to his intense internships at DreamWorks Animation and IDEO, he has interned at Delave, Eggo (where he got free waffles), Intuit and VisualCV. He's also served as an intern and peer advisor at the university's career center.
"Learning from people who've been there and done it, is key for me," he says. "When looking for internships, I looked for the big names because I figured that if a company's got a good reputation, there has to be a reason for it, and in most cases it's because the company has a great work culture. I want to be exposed to the people who create that culture and imbibe their professionalism."
Once he nabbed an internship, Escobar used the opportunity to explore all the operational facets of a company. "The great thing about being an intern is you can be in the accounting department but still ask questions of people in recruiting," he says.
"We tell our interns that you have an access card that even full-time employees don't have," says Kelly Spivey, senior work-force strategist in the city of San José's human resources department. "They can call a director of any department and get an appointment for an informational interview."
Last summer, the city of San José mentorship program had 20 mentors and mentees; this summer, that number doubled. "If there's a certain expertise area that the intern is trying to develop, they can ask for a mentor from that field," explains Spivey. For instance, "if an intern is passionate about economic development but feels he needs to learn more about financial management software, he might find a city employee who works as a financial analyst to mentor him."
Joyce Chen, '08 Digital Media Art, who interns with the city manager's office designing web pages, brochures, newsletters and ads, sought mentorship this year from Kathy Lang, '90 Audiology and Speech Pathology, '94 MA Audiology, who works in the city's IT department. "I don't know any of the backend stuff that goes into submitting forms that I design for the website," says Chen. "So this gives me the opportunity to get a bigger picture view of the entire process, both artistic and technical."
Lang has also helped Chen polish her resume and practice her interviewing skills. "I knew that she had wonderful design skills, and now I'm excited to be able to share my technical expertise with her. In return, she inspires me with better design skills," says Lang, who also enjoys mentoring Chen because of their common SJSU connection. "I think this is a fabulous way for Spartans to come together. I was given so many opportunities while attending SJSU that I am glad to be giving back in this way."
Another alumnus who's doing his part to give SJSU interns a well-rounded experience is Asian Art Museum librarian John Stucky, '92 MLIS.
"I have tried to impress upon all my interns the importance of knowing all aspects of the profession in order to do the best and most informed job they can in their future careers," he says. "Working in a small library allows interns to do a greater variety of tasks, some of which they may never do again. Yet it gives them a much broader background and greater level of understanding of how libraries function at many levels. You must learn how to draw basic shapes before you can even begin to paint."
In the current economic climate, the influx of internship opportunities is a boon for students.
"We're seeing more unpaid internship offers coming through," says the career center's Wayfer. "And there's an increased interest in public service sector opportunities."
Talia Bisbano, '04 Justice Studies, interned without pay at Vanished Children's Alliance. She is now the organization's director of casework. She cautions students not to discard an internship opportunity simply because it doesn't pay. "You can't really put a price tag on the kind of experience you get as an intern," she says.
"It helps you become more marketable in the long run." It's the big-picture perspective that's driving "super intern" Juan Escobar to expand his list of contacts and connections via online social networking platforms. To date, he has more than 1,000 Facebook friends and 500 connections on LinkedIn.
"As a student, these online friendships are my ticket to informational interviews," he says. "As a soon-to-be alumnus, I see them as an opportunity to form a real-life relationship that will help me become a connector for future Spartans."
-- Mansi Bhatia
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