SFSU students Jean-Michael Arraki and Jean Miguel Nacpil host this first social hour of the Fall 2022 semester for the alumni mentoring program. Mentors share their stories from their time at the University, offer insight into learnings over the course of their careers, and advise current students on making the most of their time at San Francisco State.

Mohamed Saber is a consultant and the host of the SFSU Gatorcast podcast. He received his Bachelor's degree in Finance from San Francisco State University.

Sina Shariati is a business analyst with a background in IT and data analytics. He receive his Master’s in Business Analytics from San Francisco State University.

Jeff Drimmer is a logistics expert with more than 30 years of management experience. He received his Bachelor’s in Business Administration from San Francisco State University.

Michael Dore is an attorney with extensive experience in information systems. He holds a Master’s in Business Administration from San Francisco State University.

Cristian Solis-Flores is an agent at New York life Insurance Company. He received his Bachelor's in Business Administration from San Francisco State University.

Ryan Smith is an Assistant Professor at SFSU’s Lam Family College of Business. He previously taught at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Jean-Michael Arraki is the President of the Mentorship Empowerment Club. He’s a Senior at San Francisco State University studying business information systems.

Jean Miguel Nacpil is the executive officer of the Mentorship Empowerment Club. He’s a Junior accounting student at San Francisco State University.

Sina on the SFSU Faculty

[24:10] The faculty is so professional. They were so helpful to me in finding my first job because when I was preparing my resume, I was reaching out to them.

I asked them, ‘Hey, could you please take a look at this resume and give me your feedback? ‘

Mohamed on the Culture at SFSU

[27:38] It built an underdog mentality. We're going up against big schools like Berkeley, Stanford or these other universities– Santa Clara, San Jose State… and I like that. I liked being the underdog.

Jeff on Applying for Jobs

[38:06] Don't ever get discouraged. You may be applying for dozens and dozens of companies and hearing nothing but knows, and knows, and knows. Don't let that get you down because that's part of life's experience, is how you deal with adversity, right?

It's very easy to deal with life when things are good. But people will always look and see how you performed in adversity.

Ryan Smith is an Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University, focused on Hospitality and Tourism. Prior to San Francisco State, he taught in Hong Kong, South Korea, and at the University of Houston. Most importantly, he’s faculty lead for the SFSU Lam College of Business Mentorship Program. 

Learn more about how the program is impacting students today and how to get more involved.

On Alumni Generosity

[2:15] Alumni in general love giving back to the college. Basically they just wanna feel like they can do something, and our students need that support. And so, a lot of the students that have done this mentorship program have really benefited greatly in terms of improving their confidence level overall, as well as kind of getting ready for the workforce. And the alumni also love it.

On Participation Levels

[10:19] This semester, we have roughly 80 students. And from a mentor standpoint, we have about 55. Some mentors want to pair with more students, so the numbers work out pretty well for us at this point.

On Time Commitment

[11:07] What we ask mentors to dedicate is roughly around five hours. So, three different times over the course of the semester, with three outcomes that you're supposed to kind of run away with. Of course there are mentors, when you get paired with a student that you really want to help, they'll generally give more time.

On New Campus Initiatives

[16:07] Innovation and entrepreneurship, for example, are running kind of an incubator where students basically take a concept and bring it to life– make it to a point where you're selling a pitch deck, Like a Shark Tank-type series. And I think this year that was last year, and next year they're actually going to prototype.

On SFSU’s Student Training Restaurant

The biggest takeaway is just building confidence and talking to strangers and being able to deal with guests in general. At the end of the day, are you gonna carry plates when you go in the future? Most likely not only in your house, but, taking away those things, you don't really think about the fact that you're learning those valuable takeaways.

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Today's guest is Manny Duenas - An SFSU Alum who I've been following for some time on LinkedIn. He is a University Recruiter at Intuit, a Top 25 Job Search Expert to Follow on LinkedIn, CEO at Career Doctor, and a professional speaker. He also helps untapped talent and first-generation students break into tech.

Hear more from Manny Duenas on the podcast today.

On his father’s wisdom

[2:04] He pulled me aside, and he was actually crying, and I'd never seen this man cry in my life– like this quiet, silent person, a very strong type of guy. When that happened, I thought I had gotten in trouble.

He pulled me aside and he told me, “I want you to be better than me,” and that really stuck with me. That really moved me at that time.

On role models

[4:16] I went to different colleges, and finally found a home at San Francisco State University and graduated. And there was nobody telling me how to manage my finances. There was nobody telling me whether I should take out student loans or not, or move here, move there, or doing homework, any of that stuff.

On his company, Career Doctor

[13:29] We're working over here and creating a database to curate the top free resources– that you can find on YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok– and curating it in a way that will help you take a step forward toward breaking into tech.

On “Hidden Jobs”

[15:19] They're not posted on career pages. You can't find them on Indeed. It's more so like networking, it's word of mouth. So the Hidden Job Market is born from that way of thinking. That these jobs are hidden, and a lot of it is found just through networking.

On Celebrating People’s Achievements

[22:42] It's kind of just pulling back the curtain and kind of humanizing a little bit more– because it's more than just the celebration. These people are all human and they all work hard to get to where they are today. So, we shed light on that.

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