By Zachary Nelson
This is the time of year when many students out for the summer and new graduates will be going full force on their job search. Student employees at the University of Washington Bothell will have an advantage due to the skills they’ve gained. In many campus jobs, they are given responsibilities similar to those found in the real world — and that experience can make them more marketable.
Rowaida Abdalla, a dual major in Education Studies and Global Studies, works as a Living-Learning Communities peer instructor, focusing on peer mentorship and community development.
“I am an education major, so for me teaching a two-credit class focused on student success was a perfect fit,” she said. “It’s a great feeling to get paid to do what you love by empowering other students in their own education.”
Abdalla teaches students study skills and works to build a strong community for those who live on campus. “These students are like family to me,” she said. “They always come to ask me for help and see how I am doing. It’s great to form these relationships among my peers and get paid to do it.”
Julia Owsen, above, a Computer Science & Software Engineering major, codes for the UW Bothell website, directly applying skills in HTML and CSS from her studies. “Working at UW Bothell as a web assistant has given me experiences I never would have thought of,” she said. “I have worked as a project manager, interacted with clients and reviewed analytics on the website.”
“This job has given me real hands-on experience,” Owsen said.
As a lead student career adviser, Allison Pace, left, with Yusuf Corr, helps students find jobs by improving their resumes, editing their cover letters and conducting mock interviews. “It feels great when students come up to me months later and thank me for helping them get hired,” said Pace, a Community Psychology major.
Pace added, “When I came here I didn’t know anybody. Now, because of my job, I have a bigger support system of people who care about me on campus and have great experience to add to my resume.”
