Meet the BFFs

There, they met with representatives — most of them USF alumni — from major employers: Adobe, Amazon Web Services, Apple, CoreWeave, Gap, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Notion, OpenAI, SoFi, Ubisoft, Uber AI, Wells Fargo, and YouTube.

“We invite industry professionals from top local companies to meet with students and share about their company culture and what a good fit looks like,” said Stephanie Belfiore, associate director of the Career Services Center. “This is a chance for our students to learn, ask questions, get advice, and see what’s possible. You never know where a connection might lead.”

Cody Coakley ’27, an entrepreneurship and innovation major, said, “Face-to-face connection is everything. I chose USF because it’s in San Francisco, and there are so many great companies here.” He met with Gio Masawi MS ’17, USF graduate and a global solutions manager for Gemini Enterprise and Agentic AI at Google. Some of Masawi’s advice: Keep talking to people, and be yourself.

Lay Pich Moni Rachana ’29, a global studies and economics double major, met with Madeline Sweeney ’14, a USF graduate who is a policy enforcement manager for Trust and Safety at YouTube. “She told me a career is not always a straight line. You might bumble a bit. It was reassuring to hear that. To know that she was on my same path, right here at USF, inspires me.”

Sweeney also offered reassurance to students worried about the job market. “USF students stand out for their curiosity and for their USF values — social justice and the care for making the world a better place. It’s built into the curriculum. You see the benefits when you graduate.”

Masawi added that “a USF education can help you stand out, because at USF you learn how to work well with others, to work on teams. If you can say, on your resume, ‘I led this team or founded this club,’ that can also help.”