After graduating from Mill High School, Jackie Guilbault made the strategic decision to begin college at CSM.  Jackie’s plan was to explore different areas of study, select a career and then chose a university based on what would lead her to reach her career goal. “I wanted to get the most out of my community college experience and attending CSM helped me make those important decisions.” To foster her decision making, Jackie sought out internships related to her classes. Her idea was to find internship opportunities which would give her real-world experience in a career field that interested her.

“An internship that captured my attention was an on-campus position as a student ambassador in the Community Relations and Marketing department.” She was able to make the connection between her duties as a student ambassador, which combined community outreach, public relations and customer service, with what she had learned in her marketing class.

“Serving as a student ambassador allowed me to develop skills that were extremely valuable not only in my major but in my career – public speaking, networking and relationship building – skills that I have since taken with me and applied in my professional career and in community involvement outside my work. A memorable takeaway from service as a student ambassador was that I was mentored by Alex Guiriba, my supervisor, and Beverley Madden, the director of the department, who encouraged me to grow and develop these skills. As a direct result of this experience, I decided to pursue a career in marketing.” 

After completing her lower division requirements at CSM, Jackie transferred to University of Nevada, Reno, as a communications and marketing major. Before graduating, she added to her resume internships at Microsoft in OEM channel management and AAA of Northern California, Nevada & Utah in their corporate marketing department. She graduated in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree.

Jackie is currently a marketing analyst in the Corporate Marketing Department of Topcon Positioning Systems, a manufacturer of land surveying solutions. She has the distinction as the first employee from the corporate headquarters to be transferred to the European headquarters in The Netherlands.