Stanislaus State has partnered with 13 other Hispanic-Serving Institutions to host the inaugural Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Career Collaborative Summit.
The two-day virtual event taking place Wednesday, April 14 and Thursday, April 15, will help students connect with organizations and learn more about employment opportunities.
“This is a tough time to graduate and look for an opportunity because of the pandemic, and it’s also a hard time to find internships,” said Julie Sedlemeyer, executive director of Stan State’s Career and Professional Development Center. “So we teamed up with the University of Texas to make it easier for students across the nation to make connections.”
The first day of the summit will include professional development workshops where students can hear from employers like Oracle, Airbnb and X the Moonshot Factory, the parent company of Google.
A Career Expo will be held Thursday, April 15. Students can sign up to attend group sessions and have one-on-one conversations with employers who are looking to hire HSI students.
“We’re not limiting it to Hispanic students,” Sedlemeyer said. “Anyone can sign up.”
Students must act fast. Each university is given 500 spots for students to sign up on a first-come, first-served basis.
Students are encouraged to log onto HIREStanState Powered by Handshake to preview the list of employers, sign up for sessions and upload a resume.
During the summit, Sedlemeyer recommends that students dress professionally, double-check their camera connection and sound quality and leave their camera on.
“It’s a networking event so people want to see you, not just hear you,” she said.
Students should also come prepared with an “elevator pitch,” a one-minute description about themselves that tells employers who they are and why they want to work for the company.
A Hispanic-Serving Institution is defined by the U.S. Department of Education as an accredited, degree-granting, college or university where Hispanic students comprise at least 25 percent of the full-time equivalent student enrollment.
The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education and Division of Hispanic-Serving Institutions provides grant funding to institutions of higher education to assist with strengthening institutional programs, facilities and services to expand educational opportunities for Hispanic Americans and other underrepresented populations.
The universities participating in HSI Career Collaborative Summit 2021 include CSU Bakersfield, CSU Dominguez Hills, Fresno State, CSU San Bernardino, Florida International University, Texas A&M International University, Texas A&M University Kingsvale, Texas A&M University San Antonio, UC Merced, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of the Incarnate Word, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and University of Texas at San Antonio.
