Sonoma State University is home to many admirable students that have used their abilities to help fellow Seawolves at the university to grow in their academic careers. Two students from the Arts and Humanities department have been given the opportunity by the Career Center to be the host of a podcast, The SSU Career Chat, centered around career outlook and exploration. 

Mackenzie Patefield, who has also taken several leadership roles on campus in ASP, as a Peer Facilitator, and the Women’s Soccer Club, has the skills to bring the SSU Career Chat to its full potential. 

Callie Adams, a second-year communications student is the co-host of the podcast, keeping the whole production organized. Both Adams and Patefield are taking the lead in this new venture with great faith in each other. 

Adams said, “I am enjoying working on the podcast because we get the creative freedom to ask the questions we think are important and structure the podcast the way that we want to. Plus, it’s exciting to connect to former students and hear all about their experiences in the career world.” 

This dynamic duo may not have known each other too well before this endeavor but their personalities seem to work well.

Patefield said that, “I did not specifically choose Callie as my partner, although I’ve known her through other Communications courses and know how strong of a worker she is. Becky, our supervisor, chose both of us, knowing that my creativity and media experience would pair well with Callie’s organizational skills. We make a great team!”

 They were approached by their supervisor, Becky Sandavol-Young with this opportunity to help students build their careers remotely. The podcast is covering major to career exploration and how campus involvement can benefit students in their careers later. Adams focuses on how former students got to their careers after college. Patefield is focusing on the student-campus involvement stories. Each week they have 3 interviews. They organize the episodes by major including STEM majors, Business majors, etc. 

Patefield said that, “This podcast is extremely beneficial to all SSU students, whether you’re declared, undeclared, or graduating in the next few months. We will have an episode that covers virtually every single major offered at Sonoma State, so there’s at least one episode specifically catered to each student.”

The Career Center wanted to create a new project that would both be received well by students and be able to successfully operate with the remote circumstances of this school year. Adams said, “Becky wanted to create something that could help current students learn directly from alumni.”

Having the ability to reach out to the whole student body at Sonoma State University in a new technological way that students are receptive to is the whole goal of the Career Center. Their aim is to provide the guidance they would have been easily accessible if they were on campus to get expertise on how to stay productive in their educations and careers. This podcast is curated for Sonoma State students because all the content is specifically for them. All the interviewees were Seawolves and how they took their knowledge from university to their careers. The podcast will air every Thursday. Ranging from a variety of topics such as how a major translates over to a career, how to even begin the process of picking a major, and ways to boost your college resume on campus. 

Patefield’s episodes are “…focused on being involved in campus activities and organizations, help show students how being involved makes you a more desirable candidate in the eyes of the employer. Whether it be playing for a sports team, being a Resident Advisor, President of a Club, or a Peer Mentor, all of these things and more can give you a boost to land amazing jobs after completing your undergrad.” Adams’  episodes deal with interviewing alumni who have graduated from Sonoma State that have created their careers from the different majors offered at Sonoma State. Hearing from past students who have gained real experience in the careers that current students are building the skills to work in. Seawolves get first-hand advice on how to better succeed on their climb to their dream careers. Adams and Patefield are always looking for current or past Seawolves to interview on the podcast. Students can reach out to them by email ([email protected] & [email protected]). The podcast is available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast.