Career Connect exposes students to opportunities after college, and, during a recent trip to Salt Lake City, students had the opportunity to meet with potential employers and make connections for the future.Harris Leafa, a senior in graphic design from Samoa, said, “The trip was well worth it. My wife and I didn’t find jobs, but that’s because we don’t graduate until April. Those who graduate in December get priority for jobs, however, we were able to make a lot of great connections.”The students’ schedule was rigorous during career connect. Jaden Leafa, Harris’ wife and a senior in social work from Utah, said, “It was ‘go-go-go’ the entire trip. It does get a little exhausting by the end.”According to the BYU Hawaii’s career connect website, a student would “spend three intense days in [his/her] preferred city with a group of BYU Hawaii students & faculty, visiting companies and organizations, attending industry information sessions, establishing contacts with potential employers, learning from local members what it’s like to live and work in these locations and, in some cases, being able to arrange interviews.”Among the companies visited were NuSkin, Goldman Sachs, Zions National Bank, and Adobe. Harris Leafa, added, “A lot of companies we visited were owned by church members. I thought it was really cool that those members based their companies values off of church values.”For some students, Career Connect was an opportunity to analyze their projected career path and change their majors. Homer Wolman, a senior in marketing from Colorado, said, “Career Connect was a great experience in that it helped me change my career plans. I got an inside look at a lot of different companies, and it actually helped me realize that I didn’t want to pursue a career in my current major.” Wolman said he would now like to pursue a master’s degree in urban planning.The next Career Connect trips will be going to: Salt Lake City, Fiji, New Zealand, and Taiwan. To apply to go on a career connect trip, contact Career Services and fill out an application. Visit http://career.byuh.edu/content/career-connect for more information.Uploaded Feb. 6, 2015
Writer: Reid Crickmore
