"Student-to-Staff” is a series featuring stories from Cal alumni who started working at UC Berkeley as students and are now career employees in technology roles on campus. This series was created to show the importance of investing in our student staff, and how vital their work is to the University and its mission. In this special Women’s History Month Edition, read about the women highlighted in this series, and their unique experiences on how they came into their full-time roles in tech.
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Jacqueline Chang Student Communications and Special Projects |
Jacqueline Chang took a job as a tutor on campus as an undergrad. After two cross-country moves and two degrees later, she returned for a job that was meant to be temporary, “Then the pandemic hit! So I stayed put, of course, and I was in that position for a little over two years. I enjoyed working in the UC Berkeley ecosystem, so I applied for another job on campus - project policy analyst with Student Affairs IT. I still hold that position today.” Chang’s advice to bIT student workers? “Advocate for yourself. Be clear on what your priorities are and what your scope is…” Continue reading about Jaqueline's experience |
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Nili Ovaici Service Manager for Student Information Systems, Campus Applications & Data |
Nili Ovaici got a job on campus her senior year at Cal.. Ovaici learned a lot during her time as a student worker, “It really defined a great work culture for me. It was wonderful working with people who were so knowledgeable. Every question I had and everything I wanted to learn, they supported me. I had ideas, and they were always encouraged. That was such an amazing experience that when I was asked if I wanted another position, I took it — even though I was working through another degree. My entire career has been at UC Berkeley and it’s because I had such an amazing experience as an undergrad…” Continue reading about Nili's experience |
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Natalie Montañez Instructional Technology Supervisor and Service Lead, Research, Teaching & Learning |
Natalie Montañez applied for a student staff position her junior year, at the encouragement of her sorority sisters, and was hired for the role. Montañez was in a few different roles during her time as a student worker, but the most memorable was a one-on-one tech support job at a drop-in desk in the basement of Moffitt Library. Montañez enjoyed that job so much that she took a similar job at Cal upon graduation. Her advice to students? “Apply to whatever sounds interesting. Make as many connections as you can. All of my success is due to the people I met and connected with as a student, and along the way...” Continue reading about Natalie's experience |
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Adriana Contreras Information Systems Analyst, College of Engineering |
Adriana Contreras-Sandova was a first-gen student, looking for a work-study position before starting her first semester at Cal. She got a job as a Help Desk Technician on campus. “I learned to interact with clients and my boss gave me advice on how to talk to professors and be professional in emails. I think that gave me the confidence to figure things out on my own. It also taught me to not be intimidated if I hadn’t seen an issue before or get frustrated when I couldn’t solve something with the first method.” By senior year Contreras-Sandoval had been promoted to Senior Help Desk Technician…” Continue reading about Adriana's experience |
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Pauline Kerschen Software Developer, Research, Teaching & Learning |
Pauline Kerschen was attending Berkeley to get a Ph.D. in English literature. “In my fifth or sixth year, during the end of my time in the Ph.D. program, an opportunity came up to do some technical work with software support. Through my hobbies, I’d picked up some software technical skills, which was rare in the English department. I think there was just a need for it, and I needed the income.” That experience helped Kerschen realize she enjoyed this work. She taught herself to code, then worked as a software developer for about five years…” Continue reading about Pauline's experience |
From student to staff, even becoming a CIO, read more stories about the unique journeys of staff at UC Berkeley.