Ask the Expert: Last in a Series
Alejandra Yañez | THE RIDER
As graduation day approaches, students are preparing to enter the workforce and utilize their new degrees to their full potential.
Two UTRGV students described their plans for life after graduation and asked an expert for advice.
Alondra Aguas, an English senior with a teacher certification grades 7-12, said she is excited to graduate but worries about the competition to find a job.
“I feel very happy to finish school first of all,” Aguas said. “I feel that all of us just want to graduate, get our degree and just start working. But, I do feel very anxious because I know there’s going to be a lot of other future teachers who are also going to graduate with me, and there’s going to be a lot of competition in looking for a job.”
She said she visited a job expo a few weeks ago and noticed there were about 200 students in attendance.
Asked what questions she had for experts, Aguas replied that she would like to know how to prepare herself for the interview process.
“What are these districts gonna ask me?” she said.
Aguas also asked what school districts are looking for in teaching candidates.
“My biggest anxiety is not finding a job, especially right now when there’s a lot of competition,” she said. “Because a lot of us are gonna graduate with a teacher certification. … Especially here in the [Rio Grande] Valley, like, it’s very small, so the opportunities to find a job are lower.”
After graduation, Aguas plans on taking her last exam to become certified as a teacher.
Despite her anxieties, she said she is prepared to enter the workforce.
“I feel very confident to start teaching,” Aguas said.
Citlalli Mancha, a psychology senior, said she is also confident in the education she has earned at UTRGV and believes it has prepared her for the workforce.
However, she believes she cannot apply for her dream job after graduating.
Mancha wants to know how she can gain experience before pursuing her dream job.
“You can’t just jump into what you exactly want to do, like, right away,” she said. “For me, I want to do forensic psychology, so I know that I can’t just start doing it right away. I need to start slowly, so I would want to ask what are some things that they chose to do to get to where they’re at.”
UT System Virtual Career Expo
When: 2 to 6 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Online, upload resume and RSVP via Handshake
Contact: UTRGV Career Center, 665-2243
Mancha said her greatest concern after graduation is being able to find a job in the Valley.
“In the Valley, there’s not as many opportunities [as there would be] if you were to leave,” she said.
Asked how she feels about her undergraduate career ending, she replied, “It’s bittersweet because, it’s like, you’re finally finished with your bachelor’s degree. It’s another milestone you’re taking, but at the same time, it’s like, you have to go out there into the workforce to look for job opportunities. It’s like, you’re starting your career in what you want to do. So, to me it’s bittersweet.”
UTRGV Expert
Ronnie Garcia, assistant director of employer relations for the Career Center, said graduating seniors can prepare for their job search by spending time communicating with employers who are looking to hire. He said the university has recently held multiple career expos.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had so many employers that are this eager to hire students,” Garcia said. “I have countless employers that are wanting to reach out to students via virtual fairs and are asking for applicants to apply to their jobs.”
From 2 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, students can RSVP via Handshake t0 participate in the UT System Virtual Career Expo.
Garcia said many employers are offering remote positions during the pandemic and encourages students to visit the Career Center to contact the employers.
“I think employers are being very flexible with the pandemic,” he said. “It’s just about students feeling confident and comfortable to approach the job search.”
Garcia advises students to consider virtual expos as if they were in person. He said students should dress professionally, turn on their cameras and make sure the backgrounds on their webcams are presentable.
In response to Aguas’ question about how she can set herself apart from the rest of the candidates, Garcia replied, “As far as how you can set yourself apart, again, just network.”
He said he recently had a student in the same predicament who was looking to catch the eye of her dream district.
Garcia advised the student to send an email to the principal of the school that she was interested in and to attach her resume.
“Sometimes little things like that set you apart,” he said.
Garcia suggests Aguas visit the Career Center to network with the multiple districts in the Career Center’s network.
“It’s important to reach out to faculty, to reach out to the Career Center and it’s important to have a network of individuals who have resources available to them,” he said.
Garcia said that when he was looking for a job, he would carry around thank-you cards to give to employers after meeting with him. He said small details can be the difference between you and someone with the same credentials.
“A lot of people don’t go the extra mile to write a thank-you card or to send a personal email to an individual,” Garcia said. “It’s important to network and treat the job search like a full-time job.”
He said the search goes far beyond the Rio Grande Valley and multiple school districts from outside the Valley have contacted the Career Center for students to apply.
“I do feel that, oftentimes, students don’t broaden their job search,” Garcia said.
In response to Mancha’s question on how to gain experience before applying for her dream job in psychology, Garcia suggests looking for jobs that fall within her field.
“It’s about thinking about what are the skillsets that I learned about psychology that I can apply for,” he said.
Garcia said many psychology students feel that they have to go for jobs in mental health, but said there are more options.
“Have students in psychology ever thought of human resources?” he said. “Human resources has a lot to do with conflict resolution. It’s also educating and training people. So, that’s why I think it’s important for students to connect with the Career Center. So, that we can, kind of, broaden the job search in the Rio Grande Valley.”
Other agencies he suggests for Mancha would be to apply as a caseworker at Tropical Texas Behavioral Health because he has heard of many opportunities in Cameron County.
For students who want to gain experience, like Mancha, before applying for their dream job, he replied that they should seek opportunities to shadow professionals and look for fellowships.
A program that Garcia suggests for fellowships after graduation would be the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.
“They have an internship program,” he said. “You do not have to be Hispanic to participate, but you do have to go to a Hispanic-serving institution, which UTRGV happens to be.”
Garcia also would like students to know that they have access to Handshake even after graduation. The only difference is that they can no longer use their UTRGV credentials to log in.
For students interested in keeping their Handshake account active, Garcia recommends visiting www.UTRGV.edu/careercenter to fill out an alumni survey and receive access to their account.
