The Argryos Career Services encourages and assists students to step up, stand out, and start now. Often times it is easy to hit a road block when in the midst of an internship or job search and to throw in the towel and give up. Senior Emma Castleton, majoring in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing, demonstrates the power of perseverance with her story of landing her 2014 fall internship:

Where are you interning for fall 2014?

Newport Beach and Company, Newport, CA”

How has the Argyros Career Services helped you in your career search?

 “I had never had an interview before so I met with the Argyros Career Services to do a mock interview before going into my first interview ever. I’m glad I did because they emphasized the importance of giving real problems and stories and not just listing out your resume in an interview. They also emphasized that it is important to demonstrate your abilities and not just list them.”

What was an obstacle in your career search that you have faced?

“I had my first interview with Visit Newport Beach Inc., that I had prepped for with the Argyros Career Services for, and it went really well. Unfortunately, I did not hear back from them. I had sent not only the initial thank you email but a follow up email as well and there was still nothing.”

Did the Argyros Career Services help you overcome this obstacle? If so, how?

“When I had met with the Argyros Career Services to follow up on the interview for this internship, one sentiment really stuck out for me, “don’t get discouraged.” That statement is so true and I definitely think not getting discouraged in this situation was helped land my internship.”

 What were the results of you overcoming this obstacle?

“Instead of allowing the opportunity to pass me by I was persistent and kept putting my name out there. After many emails and phone calls I was able to figure out that the problem was that the needs of the internship had changed on their end. Apparently they needed an intern to help support more of their graphic design needs. The woman that was supposed to follow up was traveling and what not so I decided to contact the woman I had directly interviewed with regarding this. She asked for me to send over some samples of work I had done on specific programs to demonstrate my qualifications for the new needs of the internship.  Ultimately, she saw that I was qualified and helped me land the internship I have now with them.”

 How long did it take you to resolve this obstacle?

 “From the first interview to when I was offered the internship it was about a two week time period.”

Do you have any advice for other students?

“Utilize the Argyros Career Services to get a baseline to see how people do things. The people in the Argyros Career Services have done interviews and the job search multiple times and can really help in these scenarios.

Be persistent! Don’t give up. Remember that on your internship/job search that these people don’t owe you anything. They don’t have to call you back so it is up to you to get them to remember you and want to get in touch with you.”