What’s better than finding a job immediately after graduation? According to Layla Grogan ’22, it’s landing a job after graduation at the university you love.

Grogan, who was recently hired as an IT Generalist II with the Division of Information Technology, received her degree in anthropology. Her new career path began in 2019 as a student technician with Help Desk Central (HDC), answering phone calls and solving technical questions from the campus community.

Diego Ibarra, Lead IT Consultant with HDC, said Grogan’s skills and “excellent customer service” led to her promotion as an HDC student leader in 2021. Her new role had her assist in the revamping of the Quality Assurance process, the onboarding of new hires and assisting with employee scheduling and special events.

“Layla excels in understanding people,” Ibarra said. “Her communication skills allow her to give constructive feedback to students on ways they can improve customer service skills.”

Grogan said the positive environment at HDC is what encouraged and allowed her to start a career in IT.

“My favorite part of the job is working with an amazing team,” she emphasized. “Help Desk Central has an outstanding group of senior support staff and student technicians. The atmosphere is always friendly, – which encourages the technicians to approach us with difficult issues and gives them opportunities to learn and improve.”

Jana McDonald, assistant director of information technology, said the division is dedicated to hiring excellent student employees immediately before or after graduation.

“By hiring the students as they graduate, we can provide a higher level of customer service to the campus community as they are already knowledgeable about the support and services we offer and received ‘on the job’ training,” she said.

Ibarra said recent graduates also have non-tangibles that benefit the university.

“Student employees bring with them a unique perspective about the university and the technology used by their peers,” he pointed out. “By leveraging their knowledge, we know where to focus our documentation and training to better support our ever-changing campus community. Not only that, by hiring student employees immediately after graduation, we’re able to retain the strong talent already present within the university.”

Grogan agreed and said the student employees benefit as well.

“For students like myself, it is very exciting to continue a career at the best university in the state immediately after earning my degree.”