It’s easy to get lost in the daily hustle and bustle of university life, fixating on GPAs and perfecting ideal academic schedules. Thankfully, with the guidance of career service professionals, you’re reminded about what lies beyond: becoming work- and world-ready.
At Iowa State University, dedicated career service offices and staff for each academic college can be found supporting students, preparing them for internship pursuits and employment opportunities. The result? A high number of graduates from every college landing great jobs.
Take it from Iowa State students who have gone through the process themselves.
Sahil Bakhai believes that his MBA will not only polish his skills but also prepare him for the corporate world. Source: Iowa State University
Taking your own education by the reins
You know what they say about giving a man a fish versus teaching him how to fish. Education, done right, equips students with information and the tools required to stay knowledgeable — reel, bait, and all.
Sahil Bakhai, a graduate student in the Ivy College of Business MBA programme, understands that firsthand. With an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering and six years of work experience, Bakhai decided to pursue an MBA because he felt that he didn’t have all the knowledge needed to excel in his career.
“The Ivy College of Business gave me the resources to learn and grow once I knew what I needed from my MBA. It was not like anything I had imagined — this level of freedom to choose how I wanted my MBA to be was so refreshing that it pushed me to do more,” he says.
For him, “more” involved taking on numerous extracurricular activities, participating in case competitions, working as a graduate assistant, and consulting with a nonprofit. Empowered to approach and apply his education in his own way, Bakhai took initiatives that allowed him to grow leaps and bounds. With guidance from the Director of Graduate Business Career Services, Tabatha Carney, as well as other faculty members, he leveraged his experiences and secured a global marketing internship at business services firm Ricoh USA.
Tan Nguyen is a first-generation college student in his family. Source: Iowa State University
Persevering through ups and downs
For first-generation college students, education is often more precious, but also more confusing. Tan Nguyen, who immigrated to the US from Ho Chi Minh City at 11, is proof that the right support can help you overcome the chaos to become a career-ready Cyclone.
As a non-native speaker with no experienced advice from his family, the transition out of high school was difficult for Nguyen, who initially enrolled in the engineering programme. He struggled and switched to accounting after his first semester. Then, COVID-19 struck, forcing classes to be held online.
“This change led to me taking a gap year to reconsider my academic path,” says Nguyen. “After taking some time away from school to work, I realised how valuable education is. That time helped reignite my passion for academics and led to my return to school in 2021.”
Nguyen’s belief in education, ignited by his parents, was fanned by mentors such as Mike Bootsma, Dean’s Teaching Fellow, and Brady Talley, director of multicultural student success, who encouraged him to pursue the Master of Accounting programme. With his Bachelor of Accounting and Master of Accounting, Nguyen started a full-time position as a tax accountant with Creative Planning Business Services in Urbandale, Iowa.
Hailing from India, Shaurya Purohit believes that life begins when you step out of your comfort zone. Source: Iowa State University.
Involvement in innovations
Beyond guiding you through existing paths, career services at Iowa State endeavours to help students navigate uncharted waters. Shaurya Purohit, who chose to pursue his PhD in cyber security in Iowa State’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECpE), was a recipient of that support.
With guidance from mentors such as Anson Marston Distinguished Professor Manimaran Govindarasu, Purohit is taking on various projects, including one in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security and Argonne National Laboratory to develop an intrusion response network for smart grids using federated learning. He’s also working on a cybersecurity investment analysis using game theory.
When Purohit began at Iowa State, working with big concepts like cybersecurity, game theory, and federated learning seemed out of reach. But interdepartmental support from professors and research team members within the ECpE, helped him grasp new technologies.
“These experiences and projects which I’ve worked upon at Iowa State have profoundly shaped my approach to research and innovation and have ensured that these technologies are not only to satisfy the current requirements which we might have but also to strategically prepare us for challenges which could arrive, especially in this growing realm of cybersecurity going forward in the future,” Purohit says.
