Titans of the Workplace | Titan Magazine

Titans of the Workplace: How Recent Grads Are Building Careers, and Why They Are Sought After

Story by Cathi Douglas '80

Ken Christenson ’00 (B.A. sociology) worked his way through college in restaurants and retail jobs, and then “followed the money” in pursuit of a lucrative career in management at Disneyland, Target and Kohl’s.

But when he and his wife adopted two special-needs children, it opened Christenson’s eyes to the need for special-education teachers. “I think my calling is to work with people,” he realized, and went back to school at Azusa Pacific University, earning a master’s in education and a special-education teaching credential.

“Special education means a lot less money, but it’s rewarding,” he said. “I love finding ways that kids can be successful. And today I have a Monday-Friday job with summers off” to spend much-needed quality time with his own children.

Brett Bittel ’80 (B.A. communications) originally pursued a journalism career, but a valued mentor took him aside and gave him different advice that he has always cherished.

“Gary Granville was our adviser to the Daily Titan when I was on staff, and he sat me down at the end of my junior year,” Bittel recalled. “I was burning the candle at both ends, working 30 to 40 hours a week at Ralphs. His recommendation for me was to stay in business – he believed that’s where my passion lay.”

Granville was right. Today, Bittel is vice president and general manager of the Southern California group of Enterprise, responsible for 10 percent of the automobile rental company’s operations worldwide. “It’s a challenging, ever-changing marketplace,” Bittel said of his chosen profession. “Enterprise, as a privately held company, is like an extended family. It’s a very special place.”

T.J. Landig, 25, liked the roster of rock stars represented by Warner Bros. Music Group and so pursued an internship with the company. Today, as assistant to the marketing director, Landig is thrilled to work with bands like The Raconteurs. “I love every artist that I work with,” he said.

T.J. Landig ’06 (B.A. American studies, political science) wanted to be a lawyer. But he discovered he had no passion for practicing law.

Instead, he followed one of his childhood dreams. When he was younger, the budding musician conducted marketing for his own band. As a college student, Landig realized that he really wanted to work in the music business.

He did an internship with Warner Bros. Music Group, where he became known as a “super intern” because of his work ethic and attitude. Now Landig is assistant to the marketing director and works with artists like Taking Back Sunday, the White Stripes and Disturbed.

“Looking back, my CSUF classes were a great preparation for a career,” he said. “Going to college was so important. I owe a lot to Cal State Fullerton.”

Christenson, Bittel and Landig are just a handful of Cal State Fullerton’s more than 200,000 alumni, the majority of whom typically remain in Southern California following graduation. Other CSUF grads can be found working in various levels of city, county, state and U.S. government; in engineering, computer science and scientific firms; at Disney and at Coca-Cola. In fact, the list of top employers of Titan grads is so long that, for the university’s 50th anniversary it was impossible to cull the number to just 50, said Jim Case, director of the Career Center, whose current “top employers” list tops 225 companies and organizations.

Titans work in Big Four accounting firms, at Nestle, Boeing, Pacific Life and Mercury Insurance. They work at Kraft Foods, American Airlines and Starbucks. Titans are educators in most of the county’s school districts, as well as at UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Chapman University, UCLA and USC. They work in all kinds of nonprofit agencies, including Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Olive Crest and the Orangewood Children’s Foundation.

And Titans are hiring Titans in all kinds of careers.

Rufus Richardson ’98 (B.A. business administration- marketing) is a recruiter and a national account executive for Black & Decker. “We’re looking for applicants with an internal competitive drive,” Richardson said. “We’re looking for someone who wants to win.” From a business/marketing standpoint, he said, “Titans have a head start with us.”

He finds that Titans seem better prepared for the workplace than graduates from other nearby schools. “I just think Titans have a business savvy about them. It’s exciting to be recruiting CSUF students.”

Bittel agreed, saying that the more than 150 CSUF grads now employed with Enterprise throughout the country worked hard either in school, at work or both. “They are very focused, ready to work, and ready to get their hands dirty,” he noted.

Peter Disi ’08 (B.A. business administration-management) is a human-resources consultant for Southern California Edison. Disi believes that quality is what sets Cal State Fullerton students and graduates apart from others. “Students at CSUF work and go to school. They manage their time, and they are dedicated to what they do,” Disi said. “They are motivated and analytical; they are great communicators, and they are coachable.”

Ashley Morely and Josilin Torrano hire interns for Nickelodeon Animation Studios. While not Titans themselves, they believe that Cal State Fullerton students understand the Nickelodeon culture, work hard, pay their dues and “they just get it.”

Nickelodeon recruits all across the country, from places like Cal Arts, Parsons, UCLA, USC and Chapman University, but Morely and Torrano say that not only does the company employ more interns from Cal State Fullerton, but they hire more full-timers from Fullerton than any other school.

“We love coming out there for job fairs,” Morely said. “We invest so much in Fullerton, but we get so much back from them.”

The main reason Young & Rubicam Brands, an international advertising agency with offices in Irvine, has an effective relationship with Cal State Fullerton, and hires so many interns, is the outstanding Communications Department and the advertising emphasis, said Christine Hays, director of human resources. “The most successful people we hire are eager, hungry and take the initiative. Fullerton seems to attract students who are like this.”