By Runa Lemminn

Features Editor

Four CSU Bakersfield alumni came back and told students what finding a job is really like after graduation, at an event held on February 23.

The alumni, recipients of the 2018 Rising Runner Award, spoke to an audience of well over 100 people and gave some well-received advice about life in the real world after graduation.

The awards ceremony, held every year to recognize some of CSUB’s exceptional alumni who graduated within the last 10 years, honored Derek Abbott, Ryan Drakos, Katie O’Sullivan, and Michael Pawloski.

Each of the four alumni, one from each school at CSUB, had interesting stories to tell about their adventures after graduating.  Students found the stories relatable.

Fatma Ali, a junior Psychology major, said “One of the main reasons I came is that I heard the alumni is going to be talking about basically where they are and how they got there. I just wanted to hear what they have to say.”

Following the presentation of the awards, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jenny Zorn moderated a discussion panel and question and answer session with the recipients.  One of the topics covered how to find a job after graduating.

Drakos, the awardee from the School of Social Sciences and Education, and currently an accounting manager at Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds, said he feels recent graduates should dedicate a lot of time every week to their job search.

“You need to approach finding a job as a full-time job. So you’re expected to work 40 hours a week, that’s standard, your job should be working 40 hours a week to find a job,” said Drakos. “Don’t expect that high paying job right out the gate.”

O’Sullivan, the recipient from the School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering, agreed and said it would be a mistake to not apply for as many jobs as possible.

While she says she loves her current work teaching science classes to CSUB students, it took several different jobs before she got back to the one she really loves at CSUB.

“Even though we think ‘oh, this job doesn’t sound like my dream job,’ or ‘I don’t know if I’m qualified for it,’ I think not applying for those types of jobs is a mistake,” said O’Sullivan.

The alumni also had some good advice on how to stand out in an interview.

Pawloski, the Rising Runner from the School of Arts and Humanities, admitted to wearing Hoffman Hospice colors to his interview at Hoffman Hospice. He got the job.

Pawloski also said he made a point to ask the interviewers themselves questions such as “why do you work for this company?”

Abbott, the CSUB School of Business and Public Administration’s Rising Runner said he sent out resumes with an open pistachio nutshell taped to them and his name written inside it, titled “Derek in a nutshell.”

All four recipients said that even the CSUB classes they might have thought were unnecessary wound up benefiting them.

O’Sullivan said every class she has taken at CSUB has helped her. While some classes could be applied directly to her work, others made her a better person.

She gave the example of her Religious Studies class, which she said is completely opposite of Geology.

“I’m more sympathetic towards other cultures and other religions because of that class. Even though I don’t use it in my job, it made me a better human being,” said O’Sullivan.

Drakos agreed with O’Sullivan. He said as an accounting manager he does look at some of the principles that he learned in classes at CSUB.

“Save your notes,” he said.

After the event, students said they were happy to hear the advice from the alumni.

“I felt a little relieved. This is an amazing event, and I’m sure I’m not the only student who felt that way,” said Ali.

Connor Morrow, a sophomore Biology major, said the event was very enlightening and that he had enjoyed coming to it.

“It was very good to hear from all these people that have actually gone through a lot of the same challenges that everyone goes through,” said Morrow.