Communication Career Resources | Department of Communication

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UCSB Comm Alumni Virtual Career Series

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UCSB Comm Alumni Virtual Career Series

We are excited to announce the UCSB Communication Alumni Council Virtual Career Series via Zoom, featuring UCSB Communication Alumni. Sessions continue the 2nd Wednesday of most months during the academic year.

We wanted to create an additional way for students to connect with alumni and learn about the many job opportunities available for comm majors. Our alumni work in a variety of industries -- from media and PR to legal, real estate, entertainment, hospitality, sports, and more. We have programmed these free Zoom sessions to be informal and interactive. The speaker will spend about 10-15 minutes sharing their career journey and discuss job opportunities in their industry. We will then open it up to a Q&A where you can ask your questions about career, networking, job opportunities, etc. Also, we welcome feedback on future sessions you'd like to see as part of this series so bring your questions and ideas to the session!

2022-2023 Virtual Career Series Presenters (and more to come!). Links to register (free) will be available several weeks before each Zoom session. Click here to download a .pdf flyer for this year's series.

Kyle Garcia: Advertising, Journalism & Career Searching
Kyle is a Copywriter at Ring and former journalist with NPR
October 12, 6:00 pm PT

Jonathan Gruber: Careers in Sales & Finance
Jonathan is a Certified Financial Planner and Managing Director at Capstone Partners
November 9, 6:00 pm PT

Shamara Carney: Careers in Communications
Shamara is Director of Communications & PR at Altro
December 14, 6:00 pm PT

Allison Citelli: Careers in Event Marketing
Allison is Vice President of Events & Business Development at LA Sports & Entertainment Commission
January 11, 6:00 pm PT

Alejandra Saragoza: Careers in Content Marketing
Alejandra is Managing Editor at ZenDesk
February 8, 6:00 pm PT

Click on the links below to view videos of past sessions as well as topic-specific short videos. For the full UCSB Comm Alumni Council Virtual Career Series playlist on YouTube, click here.

Sessions

2020

October 14, 6pm PT: Careers in Media/Journalism with Justine Miller
November 11, 6pm PT: Careers in Law with Karen Thorland, SVP and Deputy General Counsel MPAA, & Jake Edson, Associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
December 9, 6pm PT: Careers in Marketing with Justin Hannah, Team Lead, Marketing Technology & Ad Operations

2021

January 13, 6pm PT: Careers in HR/Recruiting with Jamie Morgan, Head of Technical Recruiting, Cruise
February 10, 6pm PT: Careers in Tech with John Bollen, Chief Information Officer, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, and Alex Platt, Business Relationship Manager, Procore Technologies
March 10, 6pm PT: Careers in Advertising, Digital Marketing, and Product with Alexei Pizarev, Director of Operations and Product Strategy, Publicis Media
April 14, 6pm PT: Careers in Event Management with Cynthia Tucker, Assistant Director, Trojan Event Services, University of Southern California
May 26, 6pm PT: Careers in PR with Debbie Fitzgerald, Co-owner/Principal, Fitzgerald Petersen Communications
June 23, 6pm PT: How to Build a Brand with Noelle White, Senior Brand Manager, Heyday
October 13, 6pm PT: Careers in Deception Detection (Research & Financial) with Norah Dunbar, Professor, Dept of Communication, and Chuck Taylor, Executive VP, Head of Financial Crimes Advisory (FCA) at AML RightSource
November 10 6pm PT: Careers in Marketing & Tech with Claire Knowles, Marketing Communications Manager, Infineon Technologies

2022

January 12 6pm PT: Corporate Communications with Erin Bergamo-Tacy, Chief Communications Officer for Blend Labs
February 9 6 pm PT: From Communication to Consulting - My Unexpected Career Journey with Matt Schermerhorn, Professional Services Consultant
March 9 6pm PT: People + Culture Careers: HR, DEI, Learning, Coaching, and Beyond with Nick Duggan
April 13 6 pm PT: Careers in the Videogame Industry with Cody Corona
May 11 6 pm PT: Careers in Media and Marketing with Tom Bracken

Topics: These videos gather related topics from the full-length videos in the UCSB Comm Alumni Council Virtual Career Series. Thanks to Amber Li, Alumni Council Intern, for editing these from the full videos!

Career Advice
Gaining Experience and Pursuing a Job Unrelated to Your Degree
How Did My Communication Degree Help My Career?
Importance of Business School
Looking for Internships Related to the Communication Major
Nature of Different Communication Careers

Past Virtual Career Series Sessions

Justine Miller, Journalism and Reporting, Oct 14, 2020

Karen Thorland and Jake Edson, Careers in Law, Nov 11, 2020

Justin Hannah, Careers in Advertising, Dec 6, 2020

Jamie Morgan, Careers in Human Resources/Recruiting, January 13, 2021

Click here to download the .ppts used in Jamie Morgan's presentation.

John Bollen and Alex Platt, Careers in Tech, February 10, 2021

Click here to download the .ppts used in John Bollen's and Alex Platt's presentations.

Alexei Pizarev, Careers in Advertising, Digital Marketing, and Product, March 10, 2021

Click here to download a .pdf "takeaway" of Alexei Pizarev's main points.

Cynthia Tucker, Careers in Event Management, April 14, 2021

Debbie Fitzgerald, Careers in Public Relations, May 26, 2021

Click here to download a copy of the powerpoint deck Debbie used in her presentation.

Noelle White, Brand Mgt. & Marketing, June 23, 2021

Norah Dunbar and Chuck Taylor, Careers in Deception Detection (Research, Financial), October 13, 2021

Click here to download four .ppt slides accompanying the Dunbar and Taylor presentation.

Claire Knowles, Careers in Marketing & Tech, November 10, 2021

Click here to download the .ppt slides accompanying the Knowles presentation.

Erin Bergamo-Tacy, Corporate Communications, January 12, 2022

Click here to download the .ppt slides accompanying the Bergamo-Tacy presentation.

Matt Schermerhorn, From Communication to Consulting - My Unexpected Career Journey, February 9, 2022

Click here to download the .ppt slides accompanying the Schermerhorn presentation.

Nick Duggan, People + Culture Careers: HR, DEI, Learning, Coaching, and Beyond, Mar 9, 2022

Cody Corona, Careers in the Videogame Industry, April 13, 2022

Tom Bracken, Careers in Media and Marketing, May 11, 2022

Click here to download the .ppt slides accompanying the Bracken presentation.

Topic Videos

These videos gather related topics from the full-length videos in the UCSB Comm Alumni Council Virtual Career Series. Thanks to Amber Li, Alumni Council Intern, for selecting the material and editing these from the full videos!

Topic: Career Advice