Thomas created his own website, http://professionintel.com/, to help students gain perspective on what professionals actually do and prepare them for the workforce. The website includes questionaires filled out by professionals for students to understand certain aspects of a career they are interested in. We spoke with Thomas from all the way in Barcelona! Here’s what we had to tell HER Campus about his career development website!
Name: Thomas Ma
Age: 22
Year: Senior
Major: Ecomonics
Hometown: St. Charles, IL
Dream Job: Business Consultant
HC: How did you come up with the idea of creating your own website, Profession Intel? What inspired you?Thomas: Well, here’s a little about my history. I applied to a ton of internships — I think over 100, and I didn’t have the experience or the connections to get an internship at the time. While working in my mom’s nail shop, and having coffee chats with people while I was doing their pedicures. These people had a lot of insight and work ethic. I really got to dig and talk to them about what they do. While talking to them, I had the emphinany to start the website. Through testimonials from people who actually work in a certain profession, students who are not as fortunate to gain that internship can learn more about the career they are aiming for, and gain a preview about what it’s like. Students usually change their majors, and it’s a great way for them to get that perspective.
HC: How is the progress of the website so far?Thomas: We can check the webcounter stats, and over 1,000 people viewed our website within 3 days after the UIC News article went viral. It was shared over 400 times, and I think it was one of UIC News’ biggest hits. The director of UIC Career Services reached out to me, and we are planning something for the upcoming Spring semester. I am going to work with the Career Fair, and talk with professionals and gain perspectives and testimonials for the website. I really didn’t expect all of the attention, epescially after all the rejection. It really gave me hope and inspired me to keep driving and keep my head up high.
HC: How do you find professionals to interview for the website? What is the process like?Thomas: Prior to the UIC News article, I used Reddit to introduce myself and emailed people. I would actually read the comments and make sure they were real people, and connect on Twitter. After the UIC news article was published, UIC reached out to alumni and connected me with them because they wanted to give back to current students. I also spoke with many people in the nail shop, and many of them are well off and come in every week. They provided great insight on what they do, and offered to give testimonials.
HC: How is the website being run now that you are studying abroad in Barcelona?Thomas: It is being run by the Vice President, Michal Kolenda. The web master is Marc DeMory, and he created the website.There are also a few others that help me keep organized. Every Monday, I send out a newsletter to everyone before their meeting and I let them know how I am feeling about certain things. We’ve figured out a tume that works for all of us to stay connected. It’s stressful some days, but it is all worth it. I’ve also met many interesting people here in Europe that are successful and that gives me inspiration.
HC: Where would you like to see the website going?Thomas: I want it to be very big, and used within a user integration system to with alumni and communicate with many different professionals. I would like for it to be used by colleges and high schools within the U.S., and even in Europe. I think that it would help students really figure out what they want to do before they committ to an internship.
Make sure to give Profession Intel a “like” on Facebook to show support! https://www.facebook.com/Profession-Intel-404781843037118/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel