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| October 2025 | Career Center |
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The Career Center was thrilled to welcome new and returning students and their families to our annual Welcome Weekend Open House. The energy was high and set a great tone for what is sure to be another awesome year at Santa Clara University!
This year, we are excited to once again offer an exciting and robust calendar of events and programs, including our signature programs: ⭐⭐⭐ CAREER & GRAD SCHOOL FAIRS Hundreds of employers and grad schools on campus to engage with and recruit Santa Clara students. Email Melissa Thiriez at mthiriez@scu.edu to learn more. ⭐⭐⭐ MENTORSHIP PROGRAM KICK-OFF DINNER 80+ alumni mentors paired with students in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Email Shauna Strauss at sstrauss@scu.edu to learn more. ⭐⭐⭐ CAREER CLARITY RETREAT 2-day retreat for undergraduate students in collaboration with the Wellness Center and Campus Ministry. Find out more through this FAQ and please recommend your students to apply. Email Vania Tong at vtong@scu.edu to learn more. ⭐⭐⭐ DIVERSITY WORKS EXPO & AWARDS An event celebrating bringing our whole selves to school and work, sponsored by Enterprise Mobility. Email Melissa Thiriez at mthiriez@scu.edu to learn more. ⭐⭐⭐ POSSIBLE TECH CAREER ACCELERATOR Immersive virtual 5-week tech career accelerator in partnership with Seattle University. Email Dylan Houle at dhoule@scu.edu to learn more. ⭐⭐⭐ BAY AREA A.I. INDUSTRY IMMERSION Behind-the-scenes visits to 8 companies, including HP, Intuitive, Nutanix, and more. Email Colleen Withers at cwithers@scu.edu to learn more. ⭐⭐⭐ Please check out our calendar for more information on these and dozens of other upcoming events. 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.
◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Fall 2025 Career Fairs and Employer Events
The Career Center is excited to offer three different fairs this fall quarter: one for Business, Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (BASH), one for STEM, and one for grad schools. We're also hosting a Career Fair Prep event sponsored by Enterprise Mobility. Select list of participating companies include Bloom Energy, City of San José, Gallagher, Gap, Inc., Lockheed Martin, PG&E, Scale AI, ServiceNow, UNIQLO, Verkada and many dozens more! Students can register on Handshake. Up-to-date event information on our events calendar. We encourage faculty and staff to also come to these events and meet the diverse array of employers who are recruiting our students.
In support of our first-ever Grad School Fair on Tuesday, October 14, Magoosh, an online test prep company, is offering an exclusive discount for Santa Clara students. Use code SANTACLARA30 at checkout to save 30% on any Magoosh GRE plan: gre.magoosh.com.
Questions about our employer events? Email Melissa Thiriez, Director of Employer Relations and Partnerships, at mthiriez@scu.edu. ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Introducing the Career Center Student Employee Team
The Career Center is excited to welcome our new and returning student employees. These dynamic individuals support the Career Center in myriad ways: warmly greeting visitors at the front desk, providing career advice to their peers, analyzing our student engagement data, helping employers recruit and engage our students, and so much more.
◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ 500+ Students Turn Out for Handshake + Google Gemini Activation Event
On Monday, September 29, the Career Center was thrilled to host Handshake and Google Gemini on campus for an afternoon of free ice cream, free swag, and free upgrades to Google Gemini Pro to help kickstart their career!
Handshake is Santa Clara University's primary career management platform through which students can schedule 1:1 career appointments, register for events, and apply for jobs and internships. Handshake recently launched their MOVE fellowship to provide MAs, PhDs, post-docs and scholars the opportunity to train and improve cutting edge AI—no AI experience required. They have also invited a select number of our undergraduates to participate in their new AI Academy general training course.
Questions about the Handshake activation event? Email Melissa Thiriez at mthiriez@scu.edu. ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Student Spotlight: Sari Elian MS'25 Lands Job at Safran After Participating in Recent Grad Job Search Program
For the third consecutive summer, the Career Center hosted the Recent Grad Job Search Program. First piloted in fall 2022, this program has supported more than 100 alumni in their post-grad job search. One participant, Sari Elian '25, credits this program with helping him find career success as an Automation Engineer at Safran after graduation: This program gave me the structure and support I needed to navigate my job search with clarity and confidence. I defined the kind of role I was looking for, developed a focused plan to pursue it, and strengthened my networking skills along the way. When hiring slowed earlier in the year, the encouragement from Myriam [Bartz, Assistant Director of Career Development] and my cohort kept me engaged and moving forward. Myriam also helped me gain full clarity on my personal strengths and characteristics, teaching me how to leverage them to my advantage. The mock interview prep sessions she led were a game-changer—they gave me the edge I needed to perform well in interviews. All of this helped me stay consistent and ultimately land the position I was working toward. Questions about the Recent Grad Job Search Program? Email Myriam Bartz, Assistant Director of Career Development for Graduate Students and Alumni, at mbartz2@scu.edu. ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Student Spotlight: Dhruvi Khotari MS'26 Shares Reflections on Her Summer Career Center Internship
Each year, the Career Center hires a Web & Data Analytics Intern from the School of Engineering. We were thrilled this year to hire Dhruvi, who supported multiple complex projects this summer, primarily the build-out of a student engagement dashboard. This summer I had the opportunity to work on building a Tableau dashboard that brings together all analysis of different ways students engage with the Career Center: 1:1 appointments, events, and through platforms like Handshake, Big Interview, Focus2, VMock, JobScan, and Bronco Exchange. My project was to connect all of these into one unified view so that we can clearly see not just how many students use each tool, but also how their engagement changes over time and across different programs. Working on this project taught me much more than technical skills. I learned how important it is to translate data into something that helps a team make decisions, spot opportunities, and celebrate impact. It also reminded me how collaborative this work is; I felt included and supported every step of the way, and I’m grateful to Vania, Dylan, and the entire Career Center team for making me feel part of something meaningful. Dhruvi, on behalf of the entire Career Center, thank you so much for your work on this important project and continuing to build on the foundation laid by our previous interns. We're grateful you spent your summer with us and are continuing through the fall! Questions about our grad intern program? Email Vania Tong at vtong@scu.edu. ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Student Spotlight: Peer Career Advisor Naila Ahsan '28 Interviewed by Bloomberg on Internship Search
Naila Ahsan '28 was interviewed by Bloomberg for a piece on how "AI and a tough entry-level job market are pressing more university students to apply for internships in their freshman and sophomore years."
The article is behind a pay wall, but you can read this excerpt below: Searching Strategically “It was kind of intimidating seeing all these older kids who have such good experiences and such good skill sets are still not landing a job post-grad,” said Naila Ahsan, a Santa Clara University sophomore who interned at a small venture capital firm this past summer. “It definitely does factor into thinking, ‘Ok, I need to be as proactive as early as possible so I can mitigate the risk later.’” Part of Ahsan’s strategy for finding an internship as an underclassman was to be as open-minded as possible. She applied to big-name companies, but also investigated opportunities at smaller shops. As a freshman, her main priority was to find a role where she could gain as much hands-on experience as possible, rather than one that would add a brand name to her resume, she said. Yes, the article addresses real challenges today's college students face trying to enter the job market. Fortunately, with resourceful and talented students like Naila and a powerful community of alumni, faculty, staff, and employer partners, the Career Center is ready to meet the challenges ahead! ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Melissa Thiriez, Ricky Padilla Represent Santa Clara University at Western Digital's Innovation Week
On Thursday, September 11, Melissa Thiriez and Ricky Padilla represented Santa Clara University at Western Digital's Innovation Week where Dr. Maya Ackerman, a member of the School of Engineering faculty and a leading expert on Artificial Intelligence and Computational Creativity, was a featured speaker.
They promoted the Career Center's employer recruitment and engagement opportunities as well as the School of Engineering's graduate and certificate programs. While there, they also ran into several Santa Clara alums including Michael Valley '25 and Lorainne Benitez '24 pictured above. Thank you, Melissa and Ricky! And thank you also to Mick Greco for facilitating this opportunity. ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Don't Cancel That Class! Request a Career Center Presentation
Do you have planned absences this upcoming fall quarter and need someone to cover your class? The Career Center to the rescue! With at least several weeks' advance notice, our team will be available to cover your class and present on a topic of your choice such as Career Exploration, Resume Writing, LinkedIn, Networking, Interviewing, Job Search Strategy, and Salary Negotiation. Our workshops range from 10-60 minutes. Questions about requesting a classroom presentation? Email Colleen Withers at cwithers@scu.edu. ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Career Center Launches New Chatbot
Our new AI chatbot is now live on the Career Center website (desktop and mobile). We're thrilled to join the Alumni Association, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara Online and others in being able to offer a chatbot.
This chatbot will give us insights into who is visiting and engaging with our website (student, alumni, employer, faculty/staff, parent or other). It will also help direct users to the most relevant sections of our website. Users cannot yet have a generative conversation with the Career Center's chatbot. For now, we have pre-set responses based on visitor type and the option for users to submit help tickets. We will make generative conversational ability available later this academic year. ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ Not just the Career Center... your Career Center! Questions, concerns, ideas, suggestions?
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