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| November 2025 | Career Center |
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The Career Center is gearing up to produce the 9th Annual Diversity Works Expo & Awards event on Thursday, February 12, 2026 from 4-7 p.m. in the Locatelli Student Event Center. Nominate a student or student org now »
We invite staff and faculty to nominate students and student organizations who you feel have demonstrated an understanding of why diversity, equity and inclusion are important, particularly as it relates to career and professional development. Nominating is simple: all you need to do is provide the student's name and email address; then, they will be notified that you have nominated them and they will be invited to complete an awards submission. The deadline for students to complete the awards submission is Sunday, November 23. Five students and up to five student organizations will be recognized at the event and each will be awarded $1,000 (up to a total of $10,000) through the generous sponsorship of Enterprise Holdings, Inc. Questions about Diversity Works Expo & Awards? Email Dylan Houle at dhoule@scu.edu. As always, I look forward to working together to deliver on the promise of higher education for all of our students: a good job, social capital, and economic mobility in pursuit of a more humane, just and sustainable world.
◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ 1,300+ Students Come Out to Fall Career Fairs
The Career Center hosted three successful fairs this fall quarter: one on October 2 for Business, Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Education and Counseling Psychology, one on October 16 for STEM, and one on October 14 for grad schools. Across all three fairs, more than 1,300 students came out to meet and network with 100+ employers and grad schools, including A10 Networks, Bloom Energy, City of San José, Gallagher, Gap, Inc., PG&E, Scale AI, ServiceNow, UNIQLO and many dozens more!
Photos by Elaine Zhang '27 Congratulations to the Employer Relations team — Melissa Thiriez, Mary Saetern, and Zarina Yamat — and to the entire Career Center staff for hosting another successful series of fall fairs! And a special thank you to the many staff and faculty volunteers who came out to support us. Shout out to Toby McChesney and all of our partners in the different graduate schools for helping us pilot our first-ever grad school fair. And shout out to Professor Yi Fang for your collaboration on coordinating the BayLearn Symposium with the STEM fair. Our next fairs are the Winter Internships Fair on February 3, 2026 and our Spring All Majors Fair on April 9, 2026. Students can register on Handshake. Up-to-date event information on our events calendar. Questions about our employer events? Email Melissa Thiriez, Director of Employer Relations and Partnerships, at mthiriez@scu.edu. ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Students Go Backstage at The Mountain Winery, Meet Billy Bob Thornton
On Saturday, October 18, a group of Santa Clara students participated in Career Day at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga and had the opportunity to meet Billy Bob Thornton.
Photos by Justin Winokur MBA'15 Santa Clara students met with The Mountain Winery staff, including General Manager Ronan Daly, and AEG recruiters who flew in from LA, including April Barfield, Senior Manager of University Relations. They also enjoyed a panel discussion/Q&A with Billy Bob Thornton and his tour manager. The SCU Jazz Club (A'Zhae Turay, Elhannen Hostler, Winston Banks and Holden Abramonte) performed the pre-show. Afterwards, our students were treated to Premium Seats to enjoy the concert. Local press attended and the event has been highlighted by The Mercury News and Cupertino Today. Thank you to everyone who made this possible, especially Professor Teresa McCollough for connecting us with A'Zhae Turay and the SCU Jazz Club and Colleen Withers for chaperoning the event. Questions about this event? Email Colleen Withers at cwithers@scu.edu. ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Verkada Headquarters Hosts the SCU Tech Sales Club
On Monday, October 27, Verkada, a fast-growing provider of cloud-based security systems for businesses and homes, hosted members of the SCU Tech Sales Club at their San Mateo HQ.
During this immersive, half-day experience, students explored Verkada’s culture, connected with sales professionals, and learned about full-time and internship opportunities. Thank you to Mary Saetern, Assistant Director of Employer Relations, for initiating this idea, coordinating all the details, and facilitating a great experience for students interested in tech sales. Questions about this event? Email Mary Saetern at msaetern@scu.edu. ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Student Spotlight: Aly Lucio '26 Takes Career Center's Social Media to New Level
Aly Lucio '26, a marketing student, started in the Career Center this fall quarter as a social media student assistant, reporting to Melissa Thiriez, Director of Employer Relations. In just a few short months, Aly has already made a huge impact by driving our social media engagement numbers (i.e., impressions, reposts, likes and comments) by upwards of 400 percent. Aly recently shared a reflection on LinkedIn about her experience covering the Handshake + Google Gemini activation event for the the Career Center: Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend the Santa Clara University Career Center, Handshake and Gemini's “Come Chill With Us” event. As the Social Media Student Assistant for the Career Center, I was responsible for capturing behind-the-scenes content that highlighted both the event activation and student engagement. Aly, we feel the same way: we are so grateful to that you are part of our team! ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Student Spotlight: Ankit Singh MBA'26 and Team Wins A10 Networks Hackathon
Ankit Sing MBA'26 and Tarang Goyal MS'26 recently participated in and won the AI Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Hackathon Innovation Challenge hosted by A10 Networks, a company who recently joined the Career Center's Employer Partner Program. Ankit is also a graduate intern on the Career Development team in the Career Center, reporting to Vania Tong, Associate Director of Career Development. Ankit recently shared a reflection on LinkedIn about his experience competing in the hackathon: Thrilled to announce that my team won the A10 Networks, Inc AI Product Management Hackathon Innovation Challenge this past Friday! 🎉 The event was exceptionally well-planned which gave us an interface for networking with vibrant professionals and challenging us to move beyond traditional AI models and truly focus on the next wave: Agentic AI. It was an energizing deep-dive into creating product strategies incorporating autonomous agents that can reason, plan, and execute complex workflows, fundamentally shifting how we think about product launch and security. Congratulations, Ankit and Tarang! And shout out to Melissa Thiriez, Director of Employer Relations, for onboarding A10 Networks to our Employer Partner Program and facilitating the opportunity for Santa Clara students to compete in this hackathon. Questions about the Employer Partner Program? Email Melissa Thiriez at mthiriez@scu.edu. ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Career Center Partners with Faculty Development to host Classroom to Career CAFE
Please join the Career Center and Faculty Development on Wednesday November 12 in Varsi 222 for a Classroom to Career CAFE featuring faculty panelists from a variety of disciplines who are incorporating career-related learning into their classes.
Whether you already do this work, you want to do it, but don’t know where to start, or even if you’ve never thought about it, join us to hear from your peers and consider ways of helping students make the connection between classroom learning and career application. Questions? Email Dylan Houle at dhoule@scu.edu or Faculty Development at facultydevelopment@scu.edu. ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Faculty Invited to Join the San Francisco 49ers "Students at the Stadium" Event
The San Francisco 49ers will host their annual Students at the Stadium event on Tuesday, November 18 from 1-5 p.m. at Levi's Stadium — and faculty are invited to apply to attend as well!
This event is hosted by the 49ers' Inclusion & Culture team and is open to students and faculty from all over the Bay Area. Attendees will learn more about careers in the sports industry through a career panel, professional development presentations, breakout sessions, and networking opportunities with 49ers staff. (Last year, a few players also showed up!) Students can register separately on Handshake. Questions about Students at the Stadium? Email Zarina Yamat, Assistant Director of Employer Relations, at zyamat@scu.edu. ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ You're Invited! Author Talk with Prashanth Asuri: Exploring Purpose, Resilience, and Redefining Success
Join the Career Center for an inspiring conversation with Prashanth Asuri—professor, entrepreneur, and innovation coach—whose work empowers students, professionals, and teams to navigate the evolving world of careers and innovation with purpose and confidence. On Wednesday, November 19 in Benson Memorial Center (Parlors B/C), Prashanth will share insights from his two recent books: Three Paths, One Dream: A Story of Friendship, Failure, and Triumph and Off the Map: A Story of Doubt, Discovery, and Defining One’s Own Path.
Through storytelling, reflection, and discussion, Prashanth will explore themes of purpose, resilience, mental health, and redefining success in today’s fast-changing world. Whether you’re a student, professional, or simply curious about life’s unconventional paths, this event offers both inspiration and practical wisdom. Questions? Email Dylan Houle at dhoule@scu.edu or Prashanth Asuri at asurip@scu.edu. ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Reach on a Global Scale: Dylan Houle Attends Global Career Development Council, Presents with Melissa Heid at NAFSA
"Reach on a Global Scale" is the very first priority of Santa Clara University's Impact 2030 strategic plan. This past month, Dylan Houle participated in several international education conferences to learn more about how the Career Center can support this goal.
Pictured top row: On October 19-21, attended The Forum on Education Abroad's Careers, Internships, and Global Learning Conference, and also presented a research brief on the topic of career services leadership theory based on a qualitative analysis of the Career Services Leadership podcast. Pictured middle row: On October 22, represented Santa Clara University at the inaugural Global Career Development Council Think Tank, an invitation-only gathering of hand-selected career development leaders, education abroad professionals, EdTech leaders, and global employers in a conversation about futuring and visioning for a framework for student success and a global workforce. Pictured bottom row: On October 29, co-presented the session, "Career and Immigration Strategies Beyond the H-1B Lottery," at the NAFSA: Association of International Educators Region XII Conference alongside Melissa Heid, Director of International Students and Scholars, Parminder Sandhu JD'16, Immigration Attorney at Fragomen, and Nusha Shishegar, PDSO at Glendale Community College. Questions about any of these conferences? Email Dylan Houle at dhoule@scu.edu. ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Not just the Career Center... your Career Center! Questions, concerns, ideas, suggestions?
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