By Liv Dunleavy Asst. Arts & Features Editor Career Development and Alumni Relations hosted “‘100 Days Until Graduation’ Recent Alumni Share Job Search Tips with Students,” a Zoom event on Feb. 12. Organizers brought in recent FSU alumni to give tips and advice for undergrads in their college career wondering about what happens after graduation. The event was led by Katherine Sieminski of the Career Development office and Liz Phillips, the assistant director for Alumni Relations. After introducing themselves, the meeting then started and the first question was asked to the panel of alumni. Each panelist then gave their name, major, year of graduation, and their current job position. The four panelists included Andrew Franquiz, who graduated in 2017 with a master’s in criminology and criminal justice. His current position is at the Massachusetts State Police Commonwealth Fusion Center working as an intelligence analyst. Jonathan Guerrero, a Framingham resident who graduated in 2024 with a bachelor’s in marketing, is a U.S. Navy veteran, a sales development professional, and is currently working at a tech company. Guerrero said he’s been in the tech industry for three years. Jaimy Jean-Noel, who graduated from Framingham State in 2017, majored in sociology and minored in biology. After a few years she went on to get her master’s from Northeastern University, majoring in organizational leadership with a concentration in project management. She currently is a senior manager of workforce programs at MassBioEd. Matt Banks graduated from FSU in 2019 with a bachelor’s in English and education, and from Simmons University in 2024 with a master’s degree in children's literature. Banks is currently working as an ELA teacher at Lynn English High School, and has been working in education for over six years. The first few questions focused on job search strategies, and the group of alumni agreed on a lot of advice and shared similar opinions. One important tip shared by all of the panelists is to “network, network, network.” Having a mentor, a relationship with your professors and colleagues, a LinkedIn - all of these are vital when searching for a job after graduating. Banks shared his advice to “apply everywhere.” He said, “When I started applying to schools, my professor Kelly Matthews - shout out to Kelly - said, ‘Pick a distance, and apply.’” The next question asked to the alumni was centered around leveraging your college network during a job search and to share any tips on how to tap into a network effectively. “I like to be super organized, … I have a list of everyone I know, who I am connected to, who my mentors are, who are some of the people I know professionally - and I make sure I’m reaching out to them, and keeping that connection alive,” Jean-Noel said. Franquiz mentioned one specific scenario that weighs down on a lot of people when interviewing. He mentioned in an earlier question that having a portfolio - a toolbelt full of examples to show when you’re in a pinch - is really helpful to lean on during an interview. He said, “If I were to get asked a question I’d be able to lean on that and say, ‘Oh, I haven’t worked on that, but I have worked on something similar.’” The panelists were then asked if they had any challenges switching from a school setting into the workforce. Guerrero said it is important to have a mentor for guidance, but mentors don’t just appear. “You have to be proactive” and willing to find them. He also mentioned that a lot of students have these really high expectations about what they learned in college and how they think every single thing they learned in class is applicable - but it’s really different from job to job and everything is teachable. “You’re gonna learn new things on the job every single day. Hopefully that takes a little bit of the pressure off of your first big career job,” he said.