Campuswide initiative helps students develop networking skills, more
Straight-A's might get you to that first big job.
But also this: Don’t deny the power of networking and that little thing called LinkedIn, said Zach Scheer. It could be one of the most powerful tools in your toolbelt.
It’s how the Grand Canyon University software engineering major got his summer internship with broadband and digital services company Cox Communications.
He reached out through LinkedIn to a GCU alumna who works at Cox, called her via video – though she was someone he didn’t know personally – and within 20 minutes, she sent him a referral for a job.
Although he had a LinkedIn account, he said he didn’t leverage it the way he does now, and when he addressed fellow students at the first meeting this academic year of Next Level Lopes, it was the first nugget of advice he had for them – a tip he learned from that program the year before.
“Who has a LinkedIn account? Everyone? Perfect,” he said. “So how many of you guys have posts on it?”
Crickets.
“Actually, today, I just had a LinkedIn recruiter reach out to me because she was looking at my LinkedIn. So make sure we’re posting on things like that,” said Scheer, who’s now one of two student ambassadors for Next Level Lopes.
The initiative, which debuted last academic year, leans on industry professionals who drop in to talk to students about everything from collaborative teamwork to the different personalities you’ll encounter in the workplace and how to work well together.
And of course, there are those bits of advice everyone shares, like Scheer’s tip on always posting on LinkedIn.
Next Level Lopes is the brainchild of Dr. Robert Loy, assistant dean in technology for the College of Engineering and Technology, who partnered with GCU’s Career Services team and industry partner Gena Goolsby of tagLeaders to mold the career development program.
Loy heard members of the President’s STEM Advisory Board mention that students were lacking soft skills.
Next Level Lopes wanted to boost engineering and technology students’ chances of getting those valuable internships.
With the success of the program – Scheer said he knows that more than half of the students who completed Next Level Lopes last year landed internships – its reach is being extended much further this semester.
“We’re actually expanding from the College of Engineering and Technology to every college (on campus) now, so everybody can join, and every grade level, too,” said senior mechanical engineering major Ethan Santhuff, another student ambassador for the program.
According to an article posted on CNBC's website, career site Handshake's 2025 Internship Index reported that the average applications per internship soared to 109 for 2024-2025, compared to 62 in 2023-2024 and 43 in 2022-2023. Technology sector internships were the most competitive, with 273 applications per posting. In short, internships have become more competitive.
Santhuff said Next Level Lopes “directly contributed to helping me get an internship at TSMC this summer.”
He worked as a facilities mechanical engineering intern, working with utilities such as chilled water, electricity and compressed gases used in semiconductor manufacturing.
Before his internship, Santhuff spent a lot of time at the Career Services offices doing mock interviews, and through the connections he made with the department and with Loy and Next Level Lopes, his application was forwarded to TSMC on his behalf.
The most valuable skill he gained when he was in his program cohort, he said, was learning how to network in a professional environment.
“Socializing and networking are two completely different things,” he said. “And (I learned) how to build rapport in a professional environment and what employees are actually looking for when interviewing candidates.”
They’re topics that he, as a program ambassador, and the professionals leading the sessions will be sharing with students.
The initiative is getting a boost this year, too, thanks to a $5,000 grant awarded to GCU by Terracon Foundation – a grant championed by Sabrina Perez, Terracon’s Desert Southwest Region client development manager.
The grant is specifically for developing engineering students’ soft skills.
Perez, who sits on GCU’s College of Engineering and Technology Advisory Board and volunteers for the International Christian STEM Competition at GCU, loves helping students in that way.
“Next Level Lopes, why that was really important to me is because with my background – I’ve been on the owner’s side – is seeing the bigger picture of what goes into development," said Perez, who also sits on the City of Phoenix Development Advisory Board.
“It’s important for engineers to develop the other skillsets that we don’t learn at school, because that’s how you navigate the professional career path."
At Terracon, a 100% employee-owned consulting engineering and scientific firm that provides multidisciplinary services, she’s around experts from many disciplines who have to work with one another to achieve a goal.
A lot of the job, in the end, is about relationships.
So for Next Level Lopes, “It’s just making sure the (students) are developed properly outside the technical skills,” Perez said.
It’s what Goolsby, a personal certified coach, was doing at the first meeting of Next Level Lopes just a couple of weeks ago – helping develop those interpersonal skills by leading a session on emotional agility.
After an ice breaker in which students had to speak with people at the Next Level Lopes session (and answer quiz questions later about the people they met), Goolsby explained emotional agility: “It’s the ability to navigate your inner thoughts and feelings that’s aligned with your actions and core values – so it’s being intentional.”
It’s how to dial up or dial down your emotions when talking to different people, depending on their personalities and emotions.
“That’s a big part of Next Level Lopes is the practice, getting real-time feedback, making it apply to actual things,” said Goolsby of all the exercises that go on during the sessions.
Like Scheer, who found his summer internship through LinkedIn, Goolsby saw a post on LinkedIn asking for someone to help students develop their career readiness.
Developing people is a passion of hers.
“I was told I was a good coach – ‘You listen. You generally want to help people find jobs, their dream jobs,’” Goolsby said.
And it’s her hope for students in Next Level Lopes.
GCU Manager of Internal Communications Lana Sweeten-Shults can be reached at [email protected]
***
Other sessions coming up:
Oct. 5: Stakeholder communication, presented by Fastenal
Oct. 19: Communication decoded/DISC, presented by Amazon Web Services
Nov. 2: Collaborative teamwork, presented by Kaeko Inc.
Nov. 16: Topic to be determined. Workshop presented by the Socap Center.
Nov. 30: How to Own Your Career, presented by AWS and Career Services
Dec. 14: Fall completion event, presented by Terracon
***
Related content:
GCU News: Lopes level up on workplace development skills
GCU Magazine/GCU News: In demand: Why employers keep coming back to GCU
