University is a place that provides experiences and opportunities that are integral in helping students develop and grow as individuals. A question that often arises is: what happens after graduation? Former UFV students Mehmet Ercan, Aakash Dean, and Raghav Dani shared their experiences with The Cascade and gave advice for graduating students.
Mehmet Ercan graduated with a degree in Integrated Studies back in May 2024. During his time at UFV, Ercan served as a Community Assistant at the Lá:lem te Baker and was a practicum student at the World University Service of Canada Student Refugee Program. This experience helped him realize his true calling — to work in student affairs — and helped build self-confidence.
“I like changes … I don’t like to follow one particular thing in general … UFV gave me a purpose and gave me a very good mentality. UFV gave me a perfect idea of what I should do.”
Ercan shared that he found the transition from UFV to the external world challenging and is still looking for a job. He is using this time as an opportunity to educate himself in different fields.
“I am trying to make sure I am always improving myself, and I always find hobbies to help.”
Ercan explained that potential employers look for diverse extracurricular experiences and emphasized that attending UFV serves as a significant networking opportunity for students.
“If you want to create a club, the school is there for you.”
Aakash Dean shared his experience as a transfer student from Fraser Valley India (FVI). He graduated in June 2022 with a Bachelor of Business Administration, majoring in human resources.
As a student, Dean worked in the Campus Card office at UFV. There, he discovered that his true career aspirations were in the education sector. He built professional connections with his professors and gained knowledge from the courses he studied at UFV.
While Dean was a part of the student company program, Dendranato, at FVI, he learnt French and enjoyed attending networking events. These experiences helped him adjust comfortably in the corporate workspace.
“I was trying to network with people and get to know people; I think that really helped me prepare better in the workplace.”
Dean currently works as a study abroad coordinator at UFV, taking care of inbound and outbound mobility at the university. The job offers Dean the opportunity to attend staff week programs where student employees from different countries come together to share knowledge. Dean recently participated in programs in Spain and Japan.
Some of the challenges Dean faced when searching for employment was the lack of professional Canadian work experience during his graduation which affected job preparedness despite strong academic scores. As he gained real world experience, it helped him improve his interview skills. It also taught him the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
“Rather than earning minimum wage for 70 hours, it’s better to actually grow yourself professionally … Rather than earning more, I can invest [in] myself today so that my salary can increase in the next few years.”
Raghav Dani graduated with a Computer Information Systems Diploma in December 2019. During his time at UFV, he worked as a Global Student Associate at UFV International. Being active on campus gave him the knowledge and experience he needed to seamlessly transition into a professional setting.
Dani credits UFV for everything in his life. His time at UFV gave him the academic knowledge, work experience, networking opportunities, and references he uses to date.
Dani is currently working for FreshBooks, where he investigates bugs in software and provides customer support. He is also a part of the onboarding team which helps train new hires and conduct product demonstration workshops. The hardest challenge he faced was landing himself an interview, which required tailoring a resume and cover letter to the company standards, on top of staying motivated and consistent with applying for jobs, despite facing multiple rejections.
To succeed as a student at UFV, Ercan advises students to learn about territorial acknowledgements, minorities, and different cultures. He encourages students to be more optimistic and work toward improving themselves.
Dean’s advice to students is to believe in themselves and say yes to opportunities. He emphasized that students need to be more engaged and make use of the resources available to them.
Dani suggested that students should not be discouraged while looking for their desired careers and to not blame themselves for any rejections.
“If you have that consistency and motivation to keep applying for jobs, one day the opportunity is going to fall into your lap,” said Dani.
