Trek participants seek employment

Business and engineering majors benefit most from Gonzaga's annual Portland Treks, which most recently occurred on Jan. 10. But this large-scale networking event also provides a realistic hope for all the other majors out there.

Each year, Gonzaga's Career Center puts together two Treks over the winter break, one in Seattle and one in Portland. Gonzaga alums working in various businesses in these cities congregate at one of the Trek's many events: the career fair, the Women in Leadership Symposium, the corporate excursions, or the networking social and dinner. Students can meet with these alum mentors in order to get an internship at the company or just background information on how to get internships.

The Trek is open to all majors, but business, engineering and public relations gain the most from it, since a large majority of the businesses there hire students in those fields.

Stressed in the Women in Leadership Symposium and again in the excursions to corporate headquarters, students who do not study business or public relations can still be hired by big businesses, but it will not be easy. Kevin Pratt, director of Gonzaga Alumni Mentor Program (GAMP), admitted to the extra layer of difficulty.

"Initially, Arts and Sciences students are at a disadvantage, and they must prove they have the skill set and knowledge," Pratt said.

Darice Brayton, an electrical engineering alumnus, praised the foundation Gonzaga has given each of its students.

"You learn how to learn there," said Brayton.

Many of the panelists for the symposium, along with the leaders of the excursions, owned up to studying something different in college than their current job entails.

Cassie Looker, who received a BA in journalism, a minor in philosophy, and a master's in teaching, is now Nike's global basketball apparel product lead. And Tom Hughes, at Adidas, says that employees there rarely stay in their same job for more than three years, that employees shift around within the company. All of the speakers tried to stress that college courses and majors do not dictate the future.

Most of these speakers looked for work wherever they could, through networking, even if it was not their original dream job. And most ended up loving it. They found a new passion that they never would have known if they had not been open to different careers.

Several students, non-business and engineers, voiced a desire to go into nonprofit work, either through PR, sociology or psychology. However, that seems to be the common tale for adults who work at companies like Waggener Edstrom and Adidas.

Lindsay Klein, a senior account executive at Waggener Edstrom, a PR agency, originally wanted to go into non-profit work. But there were jobs open at different firms, and she found that some had great volunteering programs. Waggener Edstrom allows 16 hours of paid work time to participate in some of their community volunteering.

"This is what drew me to WE," said Klein. "I could have fun at my job and still do non-profit work."

Meghan van der Sluys, a junior studying sociology with a minor in business, went into this Trek looking for more confidence. "I came for more practice with interviewing and networking," said van der Sluys.

Sarah Frederick, a senior communications major, also took this as an opportunity to challenge herself. "Once I started jumping in and talking to people, I really got a lot out of this, even though I didn't get job offers."

Van der Sluys, however, found the Women in Leadership panel helpful. This symposium is new to the Portland Trek just this year, but has occurred in Seattle for ten years. "That they didn't continue with their major, it empowered me," said van der Sluys.

The career fair was helpful for some, especially engineers with businesses like Boeing and PGE represented, but for others, they frequently heard, "Well, we don't really have jobs like that."

Van der Sluys, for example, would have liked to see smaller companies and jobs, such as teachers, superintendents, or writing jobs. Teachers have not recently been represented, but the Oregonian used to show up until this year.

This event offered all students a chance to practice interviewing and networking within a non-competitive space. Students also were able to hear all the advice about getting and keeping internships. And it's open to all classes, from freshmen to seniors.

"I'd recommend Juniors go to this," said Lacy Ward, a senior English and History major. "You can get internships sooner." Internships, as all the speakers of the event emphasized, are completely necessary to get the jobs desired. And several of the panelists at the Women in Leadership symposium stressed the importance of résumés and experience.