January 31, 2025 • 25 mins
In this episode of First Gen 101, host Miguel Sanchez welcomes Gina Villazhiñay, a first-generation graduate working in corporate recruiting at one of the “Big Four” accounting firms. Gina shares her challenges navigating college and the impact of mentorship and networking. She offers practical advice for aspiring professionals on making the most of their college experience, securing internships, and preparing for the job market. Tune in to gain valuable insights and tips from Gina's experiences and expertise.
00:00 Introduction to First Gen 101
00:48 Meet Gina Villazhiñay
01:02 Gina's Early Life and College Journey
02:17 Navigating College as a First-Gen Student
05:36 Choosing a Major and Career Path
06:44 The Importance of Internships and Work Experience
11:31 Finding Mentors and Building Networks
14:23 Landing the First Job
19:05 Pursuing an MBA and Further Education
21:04 Advice for First-Gen Students
🔔 Subscribe to this podcast and follow us on:
📱 Facebook: First Gen 101
📸 Instagram: @firstgen101podcast
🎵 TikTok: @firstgen101
🌐 Website: podcast.firstgen101.com
🎤 Do you want to be a podcast guest or know someone with an inspiring story who should be on the podcast?
📧 Send an email to miguel@firstgen101.com
🙏 Thank you for listening! Please leave a ⭐️ rating and review!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Miguel Sanchez (00:10):
Welcome to First Gen 101, the podcast where
first generation graduates sharetheir stories and career tips.
I am your host, Miguel Sanchez.
In this episode, GinaVillazhinay, a first gen
graduate in corporaterecruiting, shares invaluable
advice for aspiringprofessionals.
(00:30):
She discusses how to navigatecollege life, Master networking
and seek mentorship.
Emphasizing the importance ofleveraging every opportunity to
build a successful career.
This is an episode worthlistening to more than once.
back to another episode of thefirst gen one on one podcast
(00:53):
today.
I'm very excited to have Gina,Gina.
Welcome
Gina Villazhiñay (00:56):
Thank you for having me.
Very excited to be here today.
Miguel Sanchez (01:00):
we're going to start right from the beginning.
Tell me about your background.
Gina Villazhiñay (01:05):
Thank you, Miguel.
So a little bit about myself.
I was born in Ecuador I've beenhere in the States for most of
my life but I still considermyself a Latina and I go back to
visit my family in Ecuador asmuch as I can.
but I always hold my immigrationstory very fond to my heart and
(01:26):
my values because Of where I amtoday and the path that it took
from and the hardships that ittook for me to get to where I am
today.
I have five years of experiencein the career services space in
higher education.
and then I am working incorporate recruiting now.
(01:48):
At one of the big four, and thathas been an extremely awesome
experience, where I'm able toleverage my passion and my skill
set to make an impact in theworkforce especially for college
students who are trying tofigure out kind of their career
paths in the business world aswell.
Miguel Sanchez (02:08):
Great.
And so you mentioned you're fromEcuador.
how, how old were you when youmoved to the United
Gina Villazhiñay (02:14):
Yes, I was about to turn 10.
Miguel Sanchez (02:17):
So you lived most of your life here in the U.
S.
And so tell me about you, thoseyears in high school where, you
know, When it was time to startthinking about college, how was
that process for you?
How did you start thinking aboutcollege and how were your
parents involved in the process?
Gina Villazhiñay (02:34):
Yes, great question.
I would say for me, I was veryfortunate to go to great high
school where I felt like a lotof my decisions and In terms of
college decision making camefrom my peers and I was very
fortunate to grow up with mybrother, Bruno, who impacted a
(02:57):
lot of my life in every aspectspecifically in helping me
navigate the college like stepsof applying.
In addition to having like goodfriends that kind of guided me
through the process, I also hadmy brother too, who was two
years ahead of me.
So was always like doing itfirst.
I would learn from him and thendo it myself
Miguel Sanchez (03:19):
when you were putting your list together of
the different colleges, itsounds like your brother had a
big influence.
Were you thinking of the bigname schools?
And when I say big name, I mean,the schools that most people
recognize.
Columbia, NYU, et cetera.
What was that school list foryou?
how did you come up with thoseschools?
Gina Villazhiñay (03:40):
for me.
My thought process wasn't reallythe name.
It was more financial.
I knew I couldn't go to aprivate school.
I had to limit myself to juststate schools given my family's
financial kind of freedom to anextent.
And that's what I did.
And I saw my brother.
Do the same and it worked outfor him and actually we ended up
(04:00):
going to the same school.
So when I was a freshman, he wasa junior in college and it was
great because all of his friendswere my friends and we always
did everything together.
So it was a really even thoughour school was like six hours
away from where we live, Ialways felt at home because he
was there as well, my brother.
Miguel Sanchez (04:17):
so you're with your brother in this school did
you visit the school before youofficially matriculated?
Did you visit other schools?
How was that exploration?
And did your parents visit theschool with you at some point?
Gina Villazhiñay (04:31):
Yeah.
I did visit the school.
I ended up going to, I thinkthey had some family slash
siblings weekend at Geneseo andI was able to like really enjoy
my time.
During that weekend and just seethe community.
And so I felt like I could seemyself there for the next four
years.
(04:52):
And then my parents did visitwhen we had to drop my brother
off.
Such, it's such a differentworld to them.
They don't.
They're very smart people, butthis is just something that
they've never experiencedthemselves.
They haven't experienced it intheir countries, let alone in
the States.
So it was something that Ilooking back at it, they must've
been so scared to just be like,yeah, my son must know what he's
(05:13):
doing too.
So let's just drop him off sixhours away and hope that he can
figure out the rest and samewith me.
So it was definitely scary, but.
They knew that they prioritizededucation and they made those
sacrifices to help us get tothose schools as well.
Miguel Sanchez (05:31):
what was sort of your career goals and what
was your major at the school?
Gina Villazhiñay (05:36):
Yeah, it was so scary.
I honestly had such a hard timemy freshman year in every aspect
and I felt like I needed to, youknow, the typical Latino parents
who are like, you have to be alawyer or a doctor.
And me knowing that I didn'treally care, to pursue a degree
(05:58):
in law or.
medicine.
I gave it a shot.
I did.
I thought I wanted to do pre medevery single freshman does.
And so the first intro classeswere extremely hard.
I figured out that it wasn't forme.
And then my Sophomore year, whenI had to finally declare my
(06:19):
major, I ended up going withsociology and communication.
And my thought process there wasokay.
Being able to work with peopleand like those two degrees, I
feel like I love working withpeople and being in a team
setting and every job to somecapacity has that.
So I felt like I could adapt.
(06:40):
That to any job I wanted to doafter college.
And then thinking through whatinternships were because even as
a recruiter now yes, you have tohave a specific major and a
solid GPA to be considered, butit's really like the experience
that you have, whether it's yourserver or a waitress, or you
work at your school's cafe orour student worker through the
(07:04):
federal work study program.
Like those are such strong.
Opportunities that you caninclude on your resume to then
be able to stand out.
And those skills are very muchtransferable skills that not
everyone has, and you can speakto on an interview.
So I always often look atcandidates who have those
(07:25):
leadership skills or have thosejobs that we consider they're
just jobs.
But if you're.
Having those like creating thoseskill sets in a work environment
while also going to school fulltime and maintaining a good GPA
It's it doesn't go unnoticed andrecruiters very much know that
as well
Miguel Sanchez (07:45):
I'm glad you're mentioning these details and
advice from your work.
The heart of this podcast is toprovide as much advice as we can
And so you're in your first yearof college and you talked about
some of the challenges Mostlyabout your major and changing
your career path.
at what point during your firstyear of college, did you realize
(08:07):
I am a first gen student?
At what point did you realizethere are students that seem to
have a better handle of what'sgoing on?
And can you provide someexamples?
Gina Villazhiñay (08:18):
Yes, Geneseo had a great access opportunity
program that I was part of andso from the beginning We had a
summer program In this program,I was able to learn about what
it means to be a firstgeneration student.
A state school in upstate NewYork.
But I was able to learn.
(08:39):
It was a college one on oneessentially, but it didn't
really hit me because thedemographics and everything, I
felt like I was almost at home.
I felt like it didn't hit meuntil it was actually a social
setting where someone hadmentioned something to me that I
was like, Oh, okay.
Yeah, I'm a college, I'm a firstgen here.
A minority here very much and itwas just eyeopening to me and
(09:03):
yeah, it was just in a socialsetting that I like did not
anticipate that at all.
And it was just like, Oh, okay.
Yes, that's me.
The people that when I was like,Even if it's a like they're
naming a stat.
I know it's about me thatthey're mentioning it about so
it was it was very Interestingand a little hard to cope with
at first because I don't think alot of people like labels And so
(09:26):
for me, I was like, huh?
Okay, so I fall under thatcategory, but what can I do?
It also gave me kind ofmotivation to keep doing better
and, doing more like internshipsand proving myself,
Miguel Sanchez (09:39):
You mentioned internships a few times and how
important it is to have jobsduring college.
What were some of theinternships you had during
college?
Gina Villazhiñay (09:49):
I was very involved more on the student
activity side where I was in ourstudent government.
I was one of the directors inthe board there.
I was part of a lot of likehealth alliances, clubs that
were there.
And I had leadership rolesthere.
I was in a Greek lifeorganization there.
And then in terms ofinternships, I was able to work
(10:10):
with one of the directors of, Ibelieve it was like the
community alliance as well, thatI was able to kind of learn more
about.
The leadership and of the schooland different committees that
they have as well that help runa school and keep the students
safe as well.
So there's more leadershiproles.
(10:31):
And then in terms ofinternships, I was able to do we
had like externship programs andlike shadowing day programs.
So I took advantage of all ofthose programs.
The ones that stand out to menow I was able to shadow for a
couple of days during some sortof spring break, the director of
(10:51):
the communications department atPepsiCo, and we still, to this
day, keep in touch, whether it'sone message quarterly, like on
LinkedIn, we still stay in touchand just being able to see
myself like at that time, therewas some Superbowl coming out.
And, I think it was the onewhen.
Beyonce was the half part of thehalftime show.
And she wasn't able to share alot of details, but in terms of
(11:14):
what goes into the day of the,like the halftime show, but she
like to prepare for all of that,it's a lot, but, and so I was
able to be in those rooms inthose conference calls.
And it was just really cool tome.
Miguel Sanchez (11:25):
That's impressive.
And, you know, you mentioned therelationship with this other
person.
And so, speaking of mentors, howdid you find mentors during
college?
And maybe you can talk about theimportance of mentors
Gina Villazhiñay (11:39):
Mentors are so important in every aspect of
your life and every stage aswell.
I'm very fortunate to have foundthe mentors I have, but in
college I would say my academicadvisor, one of my academic
advisors, I know he has toadvise me and provide me with
(12:00):
support and stuff, but therewas, and he was in my
communications department.
So he was great.
I just felt like he was lookingout for my best interest.
And when I was failing atthings, like he would help me
see things holistically and belike, okay, you're going to get
through this.
Like you got this.
And one semester I was liketaking 22 credits.
(12:21):
It's it felt impossible.
And I also needed to, because Iwanted to graduate on time.
And I ended up doing a bunch oflike different internship
programs as well.
So it was a lot that I wastaking on, but he was helping me
see the light at the end of thetunnel.
And I think an academic advisorcould be a great source.
and then just their friendships.
I felt like I was able tothankfully surround myself with
(12:44):
really great.
Friends that helped me getthrough really tough times.
And I didn't know it at thattime of you have to find a
mentor looking back at it.
I feel like you become thepeople you surround yourself
with.
And so I was very fortunate tohave found a solid group of
friends.
Like I felt like in college Ihad so many friends but you
really learn I feel like aftercollege and like through life,
(13:06):
like who you're really closepeople are and you keep them
really close to your heart.
But in college, just think ofthe people that you work with in
like a supervisory almost level.
Whether it's your supervisorfrom your federal work study
program or your academic advisoror your professor, The awesome
thing about college is thatpeople are there because they
(13:27):
want to help you like theprofessors are there because
they want to help You like toget a professorship full time It
is so hard and so they wouldn'tbe doing that if they don't have
the passion to give back andteach So I just I think that
having that thought process, andif you resonate with a
professor, then ask them foradvice things like that, could
really help, especially firstgen students, if they see
(13:50):
themselves relating to aprofessor, and they want to, Ask
them a question, just set uptime with them, like 10 minutes
of their time.
But I think having done thatinitiative is crucial to that
mentorship.
So initiative and alsoconsistency.
So it's not you like messagingthem every single day, but maybe
like once a month or once aquarter, you check on them and,
(14:12):
just say, Hey, how are you?
Like happy holidays.
Maybe set up time to do a coffeechat, whether it's virtual or in
person, which is, I think alittle more impactful.
But.
You can still get the samemessage across.
Miguel Sanchez (14:23):
Can you talk to us about how was getting your
first job and some of thepractices that help you get the,
your first job out of college?
Gina Villazhiñay (14:35):
I feel like college prepares you for so
much, and they have all thesecareer fairs, and I cannot
stress the importance of tryingto get internships or some sort
of work experience under yourbelt before leaving college.
I feel like higher ed isamazing, however, I feel like
every school should have itembedded in their curriculum to
(14:57):
have a required requirement tohave either an internship
completed or some sort ofrelevant work experience in
order for them to graduate.
Because just because you have adegree doesn't mean doesn't
guarantee you a job.
almost all schools, honestlystate schools, I can speak to
that have a career servicesdepartment.
(15:18):
I feel like I took advantage oftheir career services office and
that was super helpful.
So I definitely urge everystudent and also you're paying
for that for those resources.
So if nothing else motivatesyou, just know that you're also
paying to have a career servicesoffice in your school.
They can help you with mockinterviews, creating your cover
letters, and resumes as well.
Having an updated profile forLinkedIn, your updated resume a
(15:45):
standard cover letter that youcan tailor it specifically to
every job you're applying to andthen preparing for interviews, I
think are four things that canreally set you up for success.
For me, I felt I startedapplying through different
application platforms and then Ifigured out that I wanted to be
in like a helping, like I wantedto be helping people.
(16:08):
That's also in every single jobyou're going to be helping
people.
So I had to narrow it down nearmy home.
where was I going to be working?
And.
I ended up figuring out that Iwanted to work in higher ed and
the jobs that I was starting toget more traction was in the
higher ed roles.
So I ended up just targeting mysearch to specific roles.
(16:30):
And then.
I ended up at Mercy Universitynow as a career counselor, and
then I spent about five yearsthere where I was also able to
have the school pay for my MBA,And then I ended up at the firm
that I'm at right now, which wasat that time, my dream job.
And I had something that when Iwas working with career service
(16:51):
at career services straight outof college, I remember advising
students in the business schooland being like, wow, this is so
exciting for me.
This is the time type of jobsyou can have.
And.
And the big four and I preppedthem for those roles.
A lot of the accounting studentsand they got the roles and then
through me prepping thestudents, I was also able to
(17:12):
connect to the recruiters inthose sectors and.
Long story short, I was able tofinally make a breakthrough and
come work in corporaterecruiting, which is very
exciting and never a dullmoment.
But just having, being organizedand having the right resources
or the right tools updated foryou.
(17:35):
Is super helpful.
So people are like, what'sLinkedIn?
Like everyone can have aLinkedIn when you Google your
name.
What is, what are the firstcouple of things that show up?
One of them should be yourLinkedIn.
And I know it could be scary toput your information out there,
but everyone's like, All therecruiters, if they're looking
at your LinkedIn and you have anupdated profile, it makes you
(17:57):
look like a more legitimateperson.
And the big thing with that,though, is make sure that it
aligns with your resume.
I've seen a lot of, I've been ina lot of situations where the
resume does not align at allwith what the LinkedIn profile
says.
So just make sure all the datathat you include on LinkedIn is
up to date as well.
And that's what I would say.
Just be consistent, organized,and Don't give up.
(18:21):
I had so many interviews andmade it to last rounds and then
they were like, no, but justdon't give up.
The right door will open up foryou when it's meant to be.
Miguel Sanchez (18:30):
If you're thinking about a graduate
degree, think about a role inhigher ed, if that's the career
path you, you want, because someschools will help you pay for
graduate They call them tuitionremission, and they have other
names for it depending on theschool.
So if you're someone who'sthinking about earning a
graduate degree, perhaps youdon't want to have that debt
(18:53):
burden, you may want to considerthat as an option.
That's just an aside.
I wanted to highlight that pointbecause I think it's very
important.
And so what made you choose anMBA over other graduate
Gina Villazhiñay (19:05):
Great question.
To your point earlier and justmake sure to look at programs as
well.
I'm a big, Believer of ifsomeone else can pay for your
higher ed education, go ahead.
Look for yours, any scholarshipsyou can you can apply to and get
but there are grad graduateassistantships as well, that if
you have to be a very strongcandidate, but if you're part
(19:25):
of, if you help, I think to be aTA or a TI, like you can get
some sort of reimbursement foryour graduate program as well
there.
but what made me choose To getmy MBA was I always wanted to do
a business degree.
I just never, I was too scaredto even try in college,
honestly.
And by the time that I saw allthe benefits of what a business
(19:46):
degree could have, I was like ajunior or senior.
In college, it was too late forme.
And because one of thepopulation of students I helped
at Mercy University, werestudents in the School of
Business, I felt like Iresonated a lot with them.
Not only because MercyUniversity is an HSI, School
serves first gen nontraditionalstudents, which is a population.
(20:09):
I'm very passionate aboutserving as well.
I just wanted to give it a shotand it was very challenging, but
it was very worth it.
And I decided to get my degree,my concentration in managerial
analytics, as opposed to humanresource management, because
after having.
Various coffee chats withdifferent professors in the MBA
(20:32):
program.
The big thing that stood out waswhen one professor told me with
data, being able to understanddata and tell a compelling story
to an audience is going to beapplicable in every aspect of
your job I felt like I couldmake a bigger impact if I have
that managerial analyticsbackground as opposed to the HR
(20:53):
background.
and it definitely paid offbecause everywhere we go, it's
data, everything's data driven.
The more you're comfortable withdata and different tools, the
better off you are
Miguel Sanchez (21:04):
What are some of the challenges you've seen
for first gens as they'reapplying for jobs?
What are some things that theycan just get start working on?
I know you mentioned theLinkedIn, the resume.
What are some other things youbelieve first gen students
should be working on?
Gina Villazhiñay (21:18):
I would say that.
Networking is top of mind.
So it doesn't maybe you haveparents that, haven't had a
corporate job or, have more ofthose like just different jobs.
Like I know my dad worked inconstruction.
My mom is a housekeeper and veryproud of them for those jobs.
(21:41):
I, myself, during my summers inmiddle school and high school,
work with them or any break, Iwould work with them.
And I think that's, One of thereasons that I have such a
strong work ethic is because Isaw how hard they struggled and
worked and they never complainedever.
And to me, that's an inspirationbecause Now, when I'm helping
(22:02):
students, I try to work withpopulations that you know, the
needed the most.
and they didn't have a wealth ofnetworks to provide to me be
like, Oh my, my daughter, my, mymom's.
Or from work or has a connectionat work or, it wasn't that I
always have to create my ownnetworks.
And so creating your own networkstarts your freshman year of
college.
Also your senior year ofcollege.
(22:24):
Stay in touch with thoseprofessors.
I know I stay in touch with oneof my communication professors
and he is great and providesmentorship to me to this day as
well.
But I would say you specificallywhen you attend career fairs, I
know they can be so drainingI've run them before and i've
been part of them before they'reextremely draining But the
recruiters at the companies thatyou're at stay in touch with
(22:46):
them connect with them onlinkedin And follow Crossed off
your to do list because nowattending specific recruiting
events on from the businessside.
I might see a hundred studentsand only two people follow up
with me And just say, thank you.
It was great meeting you at X,Y, and Z event.
This is who I am.
And I attached this to myresume.
(23:07):
I would love to chat about theopportunities at your company,
but also do your homework aswell.
Look at the site and be like,okay, I also did my research and
saw that this role is posted.
What can I do on my resume tostand out?
So those things like you beingproactive about reaching out to
the recruiter and then you alsodoing your own research, looking
(23:27):
at the career site instead ofjust being like, okay, let me
know what jobs I should applyto.
You can be like, I researchedyour career site and saw that
these are the openings.
Which ones do you think likewhat can I do to stand out like
that to me?
It's okay i'll pause and helpthis candidate a little bit more
over the other candidate becauseHi, I met you at the career fair
(23:48):
last night Like, let me knowwhat jobs so if I do that's so
it's all about relationshipmanagement and people skills as
well.
Networking is huge.
Don't be scared.
People are at these eventsbecause sometimes they have to,
but a lot of them are becausethey're passionate about helping
you find a job as well.
That's my piece of advice.
And just don't be scared to putyourself out there either.
Be professional on time and doyour research before.
Miguel Sanchez (24:14):
And to Angie, now, is there anything you want
to share that didn't cover thatpeople should know?
Gina Villazhiñay (24:21):
As a college student, you're exposed to so
much.
It's so overwhelming, Surroundyourself with people that you
admire and be very selectivewith your friends in terms of
You want, you are the people yousurround yourself with.
And in college, you'reconstantly surrounded with
friends.
and instead of being part of sayfive different clubs on campus,
(24:43):
select one or two and be heavilyinvolved in those and make it a
bigger impact in those, asopposed to doing more.
And then don't be scared to askfor help.
Reach out to your academicadvisor, the tutoring center,
your schools, they're there tohelp you.
And know that there is a lightat the end of the tunnel with
all the finals and exams thatare always happening.
I just felt like extremely, Ifelt so much anxiety because
(25:06):
there was just so much to knowand you want it to always do
well in school.
And it's always about, it's notalways about what you know, it's
more about who you know.
So that's where the networkingplays.
a huge part as well.
And if, I'm always happy to helpor anything I can do for my,
(25:27):
first gen community, I'm alwayshere as a resource.
It was a pleasure being here.
We go.
Miguel Sanchez (25:33):
And with that thank you all for listening,
staying tuned for our nextepisode.
Gina, thank you for being here
Gina Villazhiñay (25:39):
Thank you.
Miguel Sanchez (25:39):
Thanks for listening.
If you enjoy the episode.
Subscribe to this podcast andshare it with a friend.
Don't forget to leave a review.
Until next time.
Welcome to First Gen 101, the podcast where
first generation graduates sharetheir stories and career tips.
I am your host, Miguel Sanchez.
In this episode, GinaVillazhinay, a first gen
graduate in corporaterecruiting, shares invaluable
advice for aspiringprofessionals.
(00:30):
She discusses how to navigatecollege life, Master networking
and seek mentorship.
Emphasizing the importance ofleveraging every opportunity to
build a successful career.
This is an episode worthlistening to more than once.
back to another episode of thefirst gen one on one podcast
(00:53):
today.
I'm very excited to have Gina,Gina.
Welcome
Gina Villazhiñay (00:56):
Thank you for having me.
Very excited to be here today.
Miguel Sanchez (01:00):
we're going to start right from the beginning.
Tell me about your background.
Gina Villazhiñay (01:05):
Thank you, Miguel.
So a little bit about myself.
I was born in Ecuador I've beenhere in the States for most of
my life but I still considermyself a Latina and I go back to
visit my family in Ecuador asmuch as I can.
but I always hold my immigrationstory very fond to my heart and
(01:26):
my values because Of where I amtoday and the path that it took
from and the hardships that ittook for me to get to where I am
today.
I have five years of experiencein the career services space in
higher education.
and then I am working incorporate recruiting now.
(01:48):
At one of the big four, and thathas been an extremely awesome
experience, where I'm able toleverage my passion and my skill
set to make an impact in theworkforce especially for college
students who are trying tofigure out kind of their career
paths in the business world aswell.
Miguel Sanchez (02:08):
Great.
And so you mentioned you're fromEcuador.
how, how old were you when youmoved to the United
Gina Villazhiñay (02:14):
Yes, I was about to turn 10.
Miguel Sanchez (02:17):
So you lived most of your life here in the U.
S.
And so tell me about you, thoseyears in high school where, you
know, When it was time to startthinking about college, how was
that process for you?
How did you start thinking aboutcollege and how were your
parents involved in the process?
Gina Villazhiñay (02:34):
Yes, great question.
I would say for me, I was veryfortunate to go to great high
school where I felt like a lotof my decisions and In terms of
college decision making camefrom my peers and I was very
fortunate to grow up with mybrother, Bruno, who impacted a
(02:57):
lot of my life in every aspectspecifically in helping me
navigate the college like stepsof applying.
In addition to having like goodfriends that kind of guided me
through the process, I also hadmy brother too, who was two
years ahead of me.
So was always like doing itfirst.
I would learn from him and thendo it myself
Miguel Sanchez (03:19):
when you were putting your list together of
the different colleges, itsounds like your brother had a
big influence.
Were you thinking of the bigname schools?
And when I say big name, I mean,the schools that most people
recognize.
Columbia, NYU, et cetera.
What was that school list foryou?
how did you come up with thoseschools?
Gina Villazhiñay (03:40):
for me.
My thought process wasn't reallythe name.
It was more financial.
I knew I couldn't go to aprivate school.
I had to limit myself to juststate schools given my family's
financial kind of freedom to anextent.
And that's what I did.
And I saw my brother.
Do the same and it worked outfor him and actually we ended up
(04:00):
going to the same school.
So when I was a freshman, he wasa junior in college and it was
great because all of his friendswere my friends and we always
did everything together.
So it was a really even thoughour school was like six hours
away from where we live, Ialways felt at home because he
was there as well, my brother.
Miguel Sanchez (04:17):
so you're with your brother in this school did
you visit the school before youofficially matriculated?
Did you visit other schools?
How was that exploration?
And did your parents visit theschool with you at some point?
Gina Villazhiñay (04:31):
Yeah.
I did visit the school.
I ended up going to, I thinkthey had some family slash
siblings weekend at Geneseo andI was able to like really enjoy
my time.
During that weekend and just seethe community.
And so I felt like I could seemyself there for the next four
years.
(04:52):
And then my parents did visitwhen we had to drop my brother
off.
Such, it's such a differentworld to them.
They don't.
They're very smart people, butthis is just something that
they've never experiencedthemselves.
They haven't experienced it intheir countries, let alone in
the States.
So it was something that Ilooking back at it, they must've
been so scared to just be like,yeah, my son must know what he's
(05:13):
doing too.
So let's just drop him off sixhours away and hope that he can
figure out the rest and samewith me.
So it was definitely scary, but.
They knew that they prioritizededucation and they made those
sacrifices to help us get tothose schools as well.
Miguel Sanchez (05:31):
what was sort of your career goals and what
was your major at the school?
Gina Villazhiñay (05:36):
Yeah, it was so scary.
I honestly had such a hard timemy freshman year in every aspect
and I felt like I needed to, youknow, the typical Latino parents
who are like, you have to be alawyer or a doctor.
And me knowing that I didn'treally care, to pursue a degree
(05:58):
in law or.
medicine.
I gave it a shot.
I did.
I thought I wanted to do pre medevery single freshman does.
And so the first intro classeswere extremely hard.
I figured out that it wasn't forme.
And then my Sophomore year, whenI had to finally declare my
(06:19):
major, I ended up going withsociology and communication.
And my thought process there wasokay.
Being able to work with peopleand like those two degrees, I
feel like I love working withpeople and being in a team
setting and every job to somecapacity has that.
So I felt like I could adapt.
(06:40):
That to any job I wanted to doafter college.
And then thinking through whatinternships were because even as
a recruiter now yes, you have tohave a specific major and a
solid GPA to be considered, butit's really like the experience
that you have, whether it's yourserver or a waitress, or you
work at your school's cafe orour student worker through the
(07:04):
federal work study program.
Like those are such strong.
Opportunities that you caninclude on your resume to then
be able to stand out.
And those skills are very muchtransferable skills that not
everyone has, and you can speakto on an interview.
So I always often look atcandidates who have those
(07:25):
leadership skills or have thosejobs that we consider they're
just jobs.
But if you're.
Having those like creating thoseskill sets in a work environment
while also going to school fulltime and maintaining a good GPA
It's it doesn't go unnoticed andrecruiters very much know that
as well
Miguel Sanchez (07:45):
I'm glad you're mentioning these details and
advice from your work.
The heart of this podcast is toprovide as much advice as we can
And so you're in your first yearof college and you talked about
some of the challenges Mostlyabout your major and changing
your career path.
at what point during your firstyear of college, did you realize
(08:07):
I am a first gen student?
At what point did you realizethere are students that seem to
have a better handle of what'sgoing on?
And can you provide someexamples?
Gina Villazhiñay (08:18):
Yes, Geneseo had a great access opportunity
program that I was part of andso from the beginning We had a
summer program In this program,I was able to learn about what
it means to be a firstgeneration student.
A state school in upstate NewYork.
But I was able to learn.
(08:39):
It was a college one on oneessentially, but it didn't
really hit me because thedemographics and everything, I
felt like I was almost at home.
I felt like it didn't hit meuntil it was actually a social
setting where someone hadmentioned something to me that I
was like, Oh, okay.
Yeah, I'm a college, I'm a firstgen here.
A minority here very much and itwas just eyeopening to me and
(09:03):
yeah, it was just in a socialsetting that I like did not
anticipate that at all.
And it was just like, Oh, okay.
Yes, that's me.
The people that when I was like,Even if it's a like they're
naming a stat.
I know it's about me thatthey're mentioning it about so
it was it was very Interestingand a little hard to cope with
at first because I don't think alot of people like labels And so
(09:26):
for me, I was like, huh?
Okay, so I fall under thatcategory, but what can I do?
It also gave me kind ofmotivation to keep doing better
and, doing more like internshipsand proving myself,
Miguel Sanchez (09:39):
You mentioned internships a few times and how
important it is to have jobsduring college.
What were some of theinternships you had during
college?
Gina Villazhiñay (09:49):
I was very involved more on the student
activity side where I was in ourstudent government.
I was one of the directors inthe board there.
I was part of a lot of likehealth alliances, clubs that
were there.
And I had leadership rolesthere.
I was in a Greek lifeorganization there.
And then in terms ofinternships, I was able to work
(10:10):
with one of the directors of, Ibelieve it was like the
community alliance as well, thatI was able to kind of learn more
about.
The leadership and of the schooland different committees that
they have as well that help runa school and keep the students
safe as well.
So there's more leadershiproles.
(10:31):
And then in terms ofinternships, I was able to do we
had like externship programs andlike shadowing day programs.
So I took advantage of all ofthose programs.
The ones that stand out to menow I was able to shadow for a
couple of days during some sortof spring break, the director of
(10:51):
the communications department atPepsiCo, and we still, to this
day, keep in touch, whether it'sone message quarterly, like on
LinkedIn, we still stay in touchand just being able to see
myself like at that time, therewas some Superbowl coming out.
And, I think it was the onewhen.
Beyonce was the half part of thehalftime show.
And she wasn't able to share alot of details, but in terms of
(11:14):
what goes into the day of the,like the halftime show, but she
like to prepare for all of that,it's a lot, but, and so I was
able to be in those rooms inthose conference calls.
And it was just really cool tome.
Miguel Sanchez (11:25):
That's impressive.
And, you know, you mentioned therelationship with this other
person.
And so, speaking of mentors, howdid you find mentors during
college?
And maybe you can talk about theimportance of mentors
Gina Villazhiñay (11:39):
Mentors are so important in every aspect of
your life and every stage aswell.
I'm very fortunate to have foundthe mentors I have, but in
college I would say my academicadvisor, one of my academic
advisors, I know he has toadvise me and provide me with
(12:00):
support and stuff, but therewas, and he was in my
communications department.
So he was great.
I just felt like he was lookingout for my best interest.
And when I was failing atthings, like he would help me
see things holistically and belike, okay, you're going to get
through this.
Like you got this.
And one semester I was liketaking 22 credits.
(12:21):
It's it felt impossible.
And I also needed to, because Iwanted to graduate on time.
And I ended up doing a bunch oflike different internship
programs as well.
So it was a lot that I wastaking on, but he was helping me
see the light at the end of thetunnel.
And I think an academic advisorcould be a great source.
and then just their friendships.
I felt like I was able tothankfully surround myself with
(12:44):
really great.
Friends that helped me getthrough really tough times.
And I didn't know it at thattime of you have to find a
mentor looking back at it.
I feel like you become thepeople you surround yourself
with.
And so I was very fortunate tohave found a solid group of
friends.
Like I felt like in college Ihad so many friends but you
really learn I feel like aftercollege and like through life,
(13:06):
like who you're really closepeople are and you keep them
really close to your heart.
But in college, just think ofthe people that you work with in
like a supervisory almost level.
Whether it's your supervisorfrom your federal work study
program or your academic advisoror your professor, The awesome
thing about college is thatpeople are there because they
(13:27):
want to help you like theprofessors are there because
they want to help You like toget a professorship full time It
is so hard and so they wouldn'tbe doing that if they don't have
the passion to give back andteach So I just I think that
having that thought process, andif you resonate with a
professor, then ask them foradvice things like that, could
really help, especially firstgen students, if they see
(13:50):
themselves relating to aprofessor, and they want to, Ask
them a question, just set uptime with them, like 10 minutes
of their time.
But I think having done thatinitiative is crucial to that
mentorship.
So initiative and alsoconsistency.
So it's not you like messagingthem every single day, but maybe
like once a month or once aquarter, you check on them and,
(14:12):
just say, Hey, how are you?
Like happy holidays.
Maybe set up time to do a coffeechat, whether it's virtual or in
person, which is, I think alittle more impactful.
But.
You can still get the samemessage across.
Miguel Sanchez (14:23):
Can you talk to us about how was getting your
first job and some of thepractices that help you get the,
your first job out of college?
Gina Villazhiñay (14:35):
I feel like college prepares you for so
much, and they have all thesecareer fairs, and I cannot
stress the importance of tryingto get internships or some sort
of work experience under yourbelt before leaving college.
I feel like higher ed isamazing, however, I feel like
every school should have itembedded in their curriculum to
(14:57):
have a required requirement tohave either an internship
completed or some sort ofrelevant work experience in
order for them to graduate.
Because just because you have adegree doesn't mean doesn't
guarantee you a job.
almost all schools, honestlystate schools, I can speak to
that have a career servicesdepartment.
(15:18):
I feel like I took advantage oftheir career services office and
that was super helpful.
So I definitely urge everystudent and also you're paying
for that for those resources.
So if nothing else motivatesyou, just know that you're also
paying to have a career servicesoffice in your school.
They can help you with mockinterviews, creating your cover
letters, and resumes as well.
Having an updated profile forLinkedIn, your updated resume a
(15:45):
standard cover letter that youcan tailor it specifically to
every job you're applying to andthen preparing for interviews, I
think are four things that canreally set you up for success.
For me, I felt I startedapplying through different
application platforms and then Ifigured out that I wanted to be
in like a helping, like I wantedto be helping people.
(16:08):
That's also in every single jobyou're going to be helping
people.
So I had to narrow it down nearmy home.
where was I going to be working?
And.
I ended up figuring out that Iwanted to work in higher ed and
the jobs that I was starting toget more traction was in the
higher ed roles.
So I ended up just targeting mysearch to specific roles.
(16:30):
And then.
I ended up at Mercy Universitynow as a career counselor, and
then I spent about five yearsthere where I was also able to
have the school pay for my MBA,And then I ended up at the firm
that I'm at right now, which wasat that time, my dream job.
And I had something that when Iwas working with career service
(16:51):
at career services straight outof college, I remember advising
students in the business schooland being like, wow, this is so
exciting for me.
This is the time type of jobsyou can have.
And.
And the big four and I preppedthem for those roles.
A lot of the accounting studentsand they got the roles and then
through me prepping thestudents, I was also able to
(17:12):
connect to the recruiters inthose sectors and.
Long story short, I was able tofinally make a breakthrough and
come work in corporaterecruiting, which is very
exciting and never a dullmoment.
But just having, being organizedand having the right resources
or the right tools updated foryou.
(17:35):
Is super helpful.
So people are like, what'sLinkedIn?
Like everyone can have aLinkedIn when you Google your
name.
What is, what are the firstcouple of things that show up?
One of them should be yourLinkedIn.
And I know it could be scary toput your information out there,
but everyone's like, All therecruiters, if they're looking
at your LinkedIn and you have anupdated profile, it makes you
(17:57):
look like a more legitimateperson.
And the big thing with that,though, is make sure that it
aligns with your resume.
I've seen a lot of, I've been ina lot of situations where the
resume does not align at allwith what the LinkedIn profile
says.
So just make sure all the datathat you include on LinkedIn is
up to date as well.
And that's what I would say.
Just be consistent, organized,and Don't give up.
(18:21):
I had so many interviews andmade it to last rounds and then
they were like, no, but justdon't give up.
The right door will open up foryou when it's meant to be.
Miguel Sanchez (18:30):
If you're thinking about a graduate
degree, think about a role inhigher ed, if that's the career
path you, you want, because someschools will help you pay for
graduate They call them tuitionremission, and they have other
names for it depending on theschool.
So if you're someone who'sthinking about earning a
graduate degree, perhaps youdon't want to have that debt
(18:53):
burden, you may want to considerthat as an option.
That's just an aside.
I wanted to highlight that pointbecause I think it's very
important.
And so what made you choose anMBA over other graduate
Gina Villazhiñay (19:05):
Great question.
To your point earlier and justmake sure to look at programs as
well.
I'm a big, Believer of ifsomeone else can pay for your
higher ed education, go ahead.
Look for yours, any scholarshipsyou can you can apply to and get
but there are grad graduateassistantships as well, that if
you have to be a very strongcandidate, but if you're part
(19:25):
of, if you help, I think to be aTA or a TI, like you can get
some sort of reimbursement foryour graduate program as well
there.
but what made me choose To getmy MBA was I always wanted to do
a business degree.
I just never, I was too scaredto even try in college,
honestly.
And by the time that I saw allthe benefits of what a business
(19:46):
degree could have, I was like ajunior or senior.
In college, it was too late forme.
And because one of thepopulation of students I helped
at Mercy University, werestudents in the School of
Business, I felt like Iresonated a lot with them.
Not only because MercyUniversity is an HSI, School
serves first gen nontraditionalstudents, which is a population.
(20:09):
I'm very passionate aboutserving as well.
I just wanted to give it a shotand it was very challenging, but
it was very worth it.
And I decided to get my degree,my concentration in managerial
analytics, as opposed to humanresource management, because
after having.
Various coffee chats withdifferent professors in the MBA
(20:32):
program.
The big thing that stood out waswhen one professor told me with
data, being able to understanddata and tell a compelling story
to an audience is going to beapplicable in every aspect of
your job I felt like I couldmake a bigger impact if I have
that managerial analyticsbackground as opposed to the HR
(20:53):
background.
and it definitely paid offbecause everywhere we go, it's
data, everything's data driven.
The more you're comfortable withdata and different tools, the
better off you are
Miguel Sanchez (21:04):
What are some of the challenges you've seen
for first gens as they'reapplying for jobs?
What are some things that theycan just get start working on?
I know you mentioned theLinkedIn, the resume.
What are some other things youbelieve first gen students
should be working on?
Gina Villazhiñay (21:18):
I would say that.
Networking is top of mind.
So it doesn't maybe you haveparents that, haven't had a
corporate job or, have more ofthose like just different jobs.
Like I know my dad worked inconstruction.
My mom is a housekeeper and veryproud of them for those jobs.
(21:41):
I, myself, during my summers inmiddle school and high school,
work with them or any break, Iwould work with them.
And I think that's, One of thereasons that I have such a
strong work ethic is because Isaw how hard they struggled and
worked and they never complainedever.
And to me, that's an inspirationbecause Now, when I'm helping
(22:02):
students, I try to work withpopulations that you know, the
needed the most.
and they didn't have a wealth ofnetworks to provide to me be
like, Oh my, my daughter, my, mymom's.
Or from work or has a connectionat work or, it wasn't that I
always have to create my ownnetworks.
And so creating your own networkstarts your freshman year of
college.
Also your senior year ofcollege.
(22:24):
Stay in touch with thoseprofessors.
I know I stay in touch with oneof my communication professors
and he is great and providesmentorship to me to this day as
well.
But I would say you specificallywhen you attend career fairs, I
know they can be so drainingI've run them before and i've
been part of them before they'reextremely draining But the
recruiters at the companies thatyou're at stay in touch with
(22:46):
them connect with them onlinkedin And follow Crossed off
your to do list because nowattending specific recruiting
events on from the businessside.
I might see a hundred studentsand only two people follow up
with me And just say, thank you.
It was great meeting you at X,Y, and Z event.
This is who I am.
And I attached this to myresume.
(23:07):
I would love to chat about theopportunities at your company,
but also do your homework aswell.
Look at the site and be like,okay, I also did my research and
saw that this role is posted.
What can I do on my resume tostand out?
So those things like you beingproactive about reaching out to
the recruiter and then you alsodoing your own research, looking
(23:27):
at the career site instead ofjust being like, okay, let me
know what jobs I should applyto.
You can be like, I researchedyour career site and saw that
these are the openings.
Which ones do you think likewhat can I do to stand out like
that to me?
It's okay i'll pause and helpthis candidate a little bit more
over the other candidate becauseHi, I met you at the career fair
(23:48):
last night Like, let me knowwhat jobs so if I do that's so
it's all about relationshipmanagement and people skills as
well.
Networking is huge.
Don't be scared.
People are at these eventsbecause sometimes they have to,
but a lot of them are becausethey're passionate about helping
you find a job as well.
That's my piece of advice.
And just don't be scared to putyourself out there either.
Be professional on time and doyour research before.
Miguel Sanchez (24:14):
And to Angie, now, is there anything you want
to share that didn't cover thatpeople should know?
Gina Villazhiñay (24:21):
As a college student, you're exposed to so
much.
It's so overwhelming, Surroundyourself with people that you
admire and be very selectivewith your friends in terms of
You want, you are the people yousurround yourself with.
And in college, you'reconstantly surrounded with
friends.
and instead of being part of sayfive different clubs on campus,
(24:43):
select one or two and be heavilyinvolved in those and make it a
bigger impact in those, asopposed to doing more.
And then don't be scared to askfor help.
Reach out to your academicadvisor, the tutoring center,
your schools, they're there tohelp you.
And know that there is a lightat the end of the tunnel with
all the finals and exams thatare always happening.
I just felt like extremely, Ifelt so much anxiety because
(25:06):
there was just so much to knowand you want it to always do
well in school.
And it's always about, it's notalways about what you know, it's
more about who you know.
So that's where the networkingplays.
a huge part as well.
And if, I'm always happy to helpor anything I can do for my,
(25:27):
first gen community, I'm alwayshere as a resource.
It was a pleasure being here.
We go.
Miguel Sanchez (25:33):
And with that thank you all for listening,
staying tuned for our nextepisode.
Gina, thank you for being here
Gina Villazhiñay (25:39):
Thank you.
Miguel Sanchez (25:39):
Thanks for listening.
If you enjoy the episode.
Subscribe to this podcast andshare it with a friend.
Don't forget to leave a review.
Until next time.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.