Career Lunches

The Department of Communication hosts a series of career lunches for undergraduate and graduate students. Alumni and friends visit campus and talk to small groups of students about jobs and strategies. The students benefit greatly from these events and quite often these encounters lead to continued mentoring beyond the lunch. The lunches are paid for by private donations from alumni and friends of the Department.  The Department is grateful to the lunch mentors and their dedication to our students.

The autumn and winter lunches featured the following visitors and feedback from a few of the students:

Mayumi Tsutakawa, '76
Manager of Grants to Organizations for Washington State Arts Commission
Jan. 14, 2009
"The lunch with Mayumi was a great opportunity to talk to a UW graduate who has accomplished so much in her career. The experience was more than worthwhile, as we discussed the potential job opportunities available in our economy today, as well as the importance of charity works and developing a strong work ethic that would benefit us in the future. I greatly enjoyed the company of Mayumi as well as the other students."
—Undergraduate Jennifer Han

Jenna Lange

Jenna Lange
Principal of Lange International
Jan. 26, 2009
"Thank you so much for the career lunch with John Gastil and Jenna Lange. I know that all of us at the table found it a very useful and positive meeting, and we appreciate the department's support of grad students searching for non-academic jobs. In the current environment, this sort of meeting is especially important, and I am quite grateful for your efforts in providing such opportunities to us."
—Graduate student Louisa Edgerly

David Ammons, '70
Former AP Olympia correspondent and now chief spokesman for Secretary of State Sam Reed
Nov. 18, 2008
"Dave is someone who turns all the cards over and spills all his secrets about political reporting, and this is important because young journalists need to be sharp, tactful, and not gullible. Talking with him is inspiring because he has a successful career doing exactly what I want to do. The opportunity for information, networking, and learning is tremendously valuable and I'm thankful to the University of Washington."
—Ryan Morden

Chris McGann

Chris McGann, '00
Olympia correspondent for Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Nov. 17, 2008
"Chris is a very interesting guy and really got me excited about applying for jobs in journalism. His stories about almost getting shot while creeping through barns trying to investigate a story and hanging off the side of a tractor  while conducting an interview are the types of things that really inspire people to do great journalism.."
—Jake Sommer

Elaine Ko

Elaine Ko, '75
Director of the Office of Social Responsibility
at the Port of Seattle
Nov. 17, 2008
"Meeting with Elaine was one of the most informative experiences I have had on campus. After listening to her experiences and career path I was better able to understand my career goals and how I can achieve them. Her interests were very similar to mine. She gave me some great advice and insight and I look forward to keeping in touch with her in the future."
—Alyssa Goldberg

"This was my first mentor lunch and I am very glad I had this opportunity. Elaine was very friendly and well spoken. She helped me learn more about working for both profit and nonprofit organizations. She emphasized doing what you love and traveling as much as possible. It was very inspiring to hear her talk about starting her own organization at a young age and always being involved in some volunteer organization outside of work. I also found it helpful to hear her give feedback about her experience with the interviewing process from both sides of the table."
—Moorea Klika

Erin Combs, '03
Project Manager, Pyramid
Oct. 21, 2008
"The career lunch with Erin Combs was extremely beneficial and inspiring. She taught me the key to getting a good job is to network using informative interviews where you go to someone who works in your interested field and pick their brain about their experience. This luncheon has given me a jump start in this key idea."
—Tameka Lampkin

"As a recently admitted Communication major, I was unsure of what I wanted to do with my degree. Meeting with Erin allowed me to learn about how broad the Communications field really is. She also gave us great tips about the importance of working on our writing skills because being able to effectively communicate is an important asset that can get us very far in our professional careers. At the same time, Erin reminded us that success after graduation can be difficult at the beginning, but that persistence and determination can help us get to where we want to be."
—Christina Nghiem

Diane Scott, '88
Public Affairs and Communications Officer,
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Development Program
Oct. 30, 2008
"I found the mentoring lunch with Diane Scott of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to be extremely helpful and refreshing! Diane was encouraging, and a good reminder that we shouldn't stress about our first job out of college. Sometimes it's better to take the unconventional route to explore other paths, and eventually you will be happy and get where you want to be."
—Kailey Tollefson

"The career lunch with Diane Scott was a great chance to gain perspective on the many areas you might apply your communications degree in. It also was a great way to hear from someone who has taken the journeyman approach to finding the right career in life and not just settling on the first thing that falls into your lap. Diane has left me with the knowledge that graduation is not the end of a long educational journey but the beginning of an even greater one."
—Andy Dean