A Spartan's Journey:
From Student to Professional
San José State University’s mission is: To enrich the lives of its students, to transmit knowledge to its students along with the necessary skills for applying it in the service of our society, and to expand the base of knowledge through research and scholarship. Several current HR employees began their careers as student assistants at SJSU, balancing their work and education.
Maggie Carrera started as a student assistant in the Library. Once she graduated she worked at a few start-ups then decided to look at SJSU’s career opportunities because of the positive experience she had as a student assistant. She has been working in the Human Resources department for 13 years, currently in the Office of Equal Opportunity & Employee Relations.
Diane Quintos began as a student assistant in HR where she felt mentored and valued; this led her to continue her career in the department after graduation in 2014. She is now a full-time employee in the Employee Services unit.
Also working in the Employee Services unit are Jasmine Ferrer and Rosario Gaspar. Rosario worked as a student assistant in the Office of Equal Opportunity during her studies as a Business student, until she was offered a full-time position at the HR Reception Desk. Since then she has cross-trained into all areas of HR and currently works as the Budget and Immigration Analyst. Jasmine worked as a student assistant in Housing for two years and loved the exposure to campus life, involvement with student outreach and supporting the University. She decided to move to HR during her last year of school and made the transition from student to professional staff after her graduation in 2014.
Tony Garcia comes from a long line of Spartans. With the referral of his cousin, he worked as a student assistant in the Computer Science Department for six years. After graduation, his campus experience and bachelor’s degree in HR landed him a job at the HR reception desk. He has continued his ten-year career with SJSU, currently in Workforce Planning.
As you can see, hiring and mentoring student employees can have long-term impact on your department and the University, fostering lifelong commitments to the Spartan community. All of these employees appreciated the work/education balance their departments provided while they were student assistants, as well as the valuable on-the-job experience, mentoring, and encouragement to take the next steps in their professional careers.
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