New Global Career Accelerator Program beefs up resumes with real-world projects

Jamie Regalia entered her senior year as a marketing major at San Diego State University looking to prove something to herself and prospective employers.

An older student who is less immersed in social media than her younger peers, she wanted to demonstrate that she could get under the hood of a global digital marketing campaign and make it roar.

Regalia found that opportunity in the Global Career Accelerator Program, offered for the first time at SDSU this past fall through the Fowler College of Business.

The online, for-credit program equips students with in-demand skills through practical  experiences that serves as a bridge between college and career.

Akin to an internship, the program enables students to work on projects that real companies or organizations such as Intel, Charity Water, the NBA, Shopify and the Grammys have tackled in the past 12 months, enhancing their practical know-how and technology skills.

These projects contain an international component. SDSU Weber’s Honor College has approved the Global Career Accelerator Program as fulfilling the international experience degree requirement.

For Regalia, an active-duty military spouse with two children, one of her projects involved developing a digital marketing campaign for a U.S. sunscreen brand that was expanding into the United Kingdom.

“I got a lot out of it, and everybody was fantastic,” she said. “It was immersive. They were so thorough with their instruction.”

Run by Podium Education, in collaboration with SDSU International Affairs, the program offers academic tracks in digital marketing, data analytics, coding for the web, and coding for data. SDSU is offering the program again campus-wide this spring. The deadline for applications is Jan. 31. Fowler College of Business students can apply here, while all other students can apply here.

“Preparing global ready graduates with the knowledge, disposition, and skills required in an increasingly international and transnational  workforce is a key pillar of SDSU’s Global Strategy and Learning Outcomes,” said Cristina Alfaro, Associate Vice President of International Affairs. “Our partnership with Podium Education is an example of the innovative programs that the university provides to create multiple pathways for students to learn in-demand skills in our evolving world.” 

A key draw for students is the projects from real companies and organizations, which provide certificates acknowledging the work.

“For Intel, they are looking at how they can make their chip processor manufacturing more sustainable in terms of water use,” said Marshal Puls, director of partner success at Podium Education. “You will get all the data that they had trying to solve that problem, and you get to do a similar analysis.”

Students also interact with peers from around the world. This past summer, Podium Education had participants from 70 different countries who dialed into its live lab sessions.

“It’s really great for building intercultural communications skills,” said Puls.

For Nico Cavanagh-Thompson, an SDSU business marketing senior, the opportunity to build professional networks as he prepared to enter the workforce was a key benefit of the program.

“What drew me to the program was the practical knowledge you gain, and the connections you get from it,” he said. “The instructor, he introduced me to a lot of people. There were people from different schools and different companies. Those connections are important, particularly in the business and marketing field.”

Cavanagh-Thompson’s project involved a comprehensive digital marketing campaign for non-profit Charity Water, which provides drinking water to people in developing nations. The project included analyzing strengths and weaknesses, brand guidelines, channel strategies, social media ads, search optimization and graphic design, among other elements.

“I would recommend it,” he said. “There is definitely a lot of practical knowledge, and a big thing in the course was globalization. How things change from country to country was fun to learn. And then the connections you gain from it. That is invaluable for your career.”