2016 CoBA Graduate

As a recent gradaute, I landed a job as a SEO Analyst - I help optimize our clients' web pages using different seo strategies including keyword research in order to make the web pages more readable by search engines, and more user friendly to people searching on the web. Properly optimizing a web page helps to create a better user experience, and also helps to get these pages on higher rankings in search engines - leading to more conversions for our clients.

I had a couple of internships throughout college which helped prepare me for my position. A few were detailed oriented, and this helped prepare me because I need to pay close attention to my work since I am dealing directly with our clients' websites. Proof reading and re-reading work is always important regardless of the job field you land in because it reflects your work and attention to detail.

One class that that helped me prepare for this position was actually a Literature and writing class. Although I am able to write well, this class sharpened my writing strategies and forced me to pay closer attention to my grammar and sentence structure. Another course that prepared me was a CRM course, and a Social Media course. The CRM course helped me because I had to be very diligent in my work before sending out a mass email or survey. Since these emails and surveys were going out to many people, my group proof read the work many times before it went live. I have to do this at work because once I implement a change, it instantly goes live on the web and must be perfect. The social media course helped me because part of my job involves some creative writing to help with click through rates. Social media gave me a different perspective and helped me to write more attention-grabbing phrases and content.

Advice to students: Don't be afraid to go out of your comfort zone. One of my favorite quotes is "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." I truly believe this saying, because you will never know what you're capable of unless you give it a shot. These chances that you take can open up even more doors for opportunity, so take the risks and chances now to learn what you're best at. Be very diligent and meticulous in your work. And remember, your degree is not a ticket to your next job, but rather a tool to help you get there. Best of luck in your endeavors!

2015 CoBA Graduate

I am a Faculty/Staff Technician at CSUSM. I work on hardware and software repairs for PCs and MACs. This includes troubleshooting application issues in Outlook, Word, Excel, etc, troubleshooting network issues on the client and server side, and replacing hardware on laptops and desktops.  

On top of this, I manage the 4 print servers on our campus with about 400 printers attached to them. I successfully migrated our print servers from Windows 2003 and 2008 to Windows Server 2012 and have helped implement our Pay for Print software called Papercut. 

How I started off in IT was from an event I attended for the MIS society where I met our Director Candie Halstead. I talked with her and one of my friends in my class already worked at helpdesk and they helped get me the job starting at the Student Technology Helpdesk.

For classes that have helped me, the networking class in MIS both wired and wireless helped me understand how a network works, but I did not truely understand it until I had printers that had issues on the network and I had to work with the Netops team on campus. Hands on experience and breaking things I believe is key for understanding a network. Other classes also helped me with group projects and working with different individuals. Senior Experience was probably the most beneficial class because we had hands on experience and helped re-build a website for a non profit cancer foundation called the DLH Foundation.  This work really helped me in interviews because whatever questions the interviewer asked, I was able to relate back to my Senior Experience Project.

Some advice for graduating students is to network as much as possible even if it is your last semester. Go to events on and off campus, join a society or club. The more people you meet the better chance you will have to get a job. Many of my friends have gotten jobs at a company because they knew someone already inside the company.  Unfortunately, it really is who you know that will get you a job so it is very important to grow your professional network.