While at VT involved in (Ethiopian Student
From
Blacksburg to
New York
Former Hokie transitions into the
working world after graduation and
gives tips on receiving a job post-
graduation
By: Jordan A. Lozama
ayla Mustafa former graduate of Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University
shares her thoughts on ways to increase
likelihood of receiving jobs after
graduation is to use the people you know as a
resource.
Mustafa received her a position at Yelp in the
advertising and sales department through a
close friend from high school and sorority sister
of AKA (Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
Incorporated). Both of whom worked for Yelp
and helped with ways of how to receive a
position.
Mustafa has been a marketing and advertising
associate for less than a year. Raised in
Northern Virginia and educated in southwest,
Va. She came in to school as an international
studies major but changed routes after an
unenjoyable first semester.
Mustafa earned a degree in Public
Relations from the College of Liberal Arts and
Human Sciences. With minors in political
science and philosophy. The minor of
philosophy was unintended." I really liked
philosophy so I took multiple classes and I was
so close to the amount of credits just love how
philosophy, how there was no definite answer,
said Mustafa.
Association) ESA, (Students of Hip Hop Legacy)
SOHHL, and (Black Student Association) BSA.
Through these organizations she slowly
received skills that would be used post-
graduation. I ended up on the BSA as the
public relations executive and I realized, hey
this is fun! What more can I do with this, Said
Mustafa.
Mustafa continues to work at Yelp and
continues to network to become more
experienced in her field. As an alumni she
intends to keep in contact with her sorority
sisters as well as student interested in what her
job entails and wondering how she got where
she is. As an alumni we are meant to help
those that are still working towards a degree,
we are here to answer question assist those in
need of guidance, said Mustafa.
Jordan Lozama: What attracted you to the
major?
Layla Mustafa: First coming into tech I was an
International studies major: that didnt work
out werent meant to pursue it. I ended up on
the BSA [Black Student Alliance] as the public
relations executive and I realized, hey this is
fun! What can I do with this?
JL: Where do you work? What is your job title?
Mustafa: Yelp app website in the advertising
and sales department.
JL: What do you do?
Mustafa: I do advertisement and sales for the
business. Each person is assigned a designated
area mine is Michigan and Vermont. So a small
town in Michigan and a ski town in Vermont.
We look at different areas content but we have
a listing. I educate people on what Yelp is. As
well as do advertising consultations one to two
a week on mobile online strategies.
JL: How did you find out about your job?
Mustafa: I learned really quickly [to network].
My BFF from HS worked in San Francisco office,
I reach out to her ended up getting an interview
in NY and two weeks later I was moving to NY
JL: Do you like what you do?
Mustafa: The answer changes by day: a lot of
people yell because they dont know what Yelp
is other times for instance like on Saturday
there was a party with people who write
reviews and I received a full days pay for that
event. Each day is different so it depends what
Im doing on a daily basis.
Photo by: Review Writer, Lisa Coleman
On Saturday, Jan. 28, Layla Mustafa (attended
right) at an event hosted by Yelp for people who
participate in giving reviews on the app
(application).
JL: Do you feel prepared enough for the job
title?
Mustafa: Youre never really going to be fully
prepared starting a career out of college. I had a
lot of foundation but every job is different:
specializing in one specific thing. I received two
months of training and at the end of the two
months I felt really prepared. Tech prepares you
in the sense of work ethic.
JL: Do you feel your major is being put into
good use?
Mustafa: Every single day theres a lot of
terminology..I still majored in communications
and Im learning to come up with campaign
plans. Tech does a really good job at preparing
you for the amount of work
JL: What are your career goals?
Mustafa: I dont have an answer for you. I
didnt take my job for it being a tech company. I
just knew the industry I wanted to be in and a
city I wanted to live in.
JL: Did you seek the location out or did you just
randomly ended up at yelp?
Mustafa: I didnt seek out the location the job
just happened to be in NY but it did contribute
to me wanting to do it more because I always
wanted to work in a city
JL: Where there any major people who you
helped you get to where you are today? For
instance contributed to you getting your job
and degree?
Mustafa: My best friend, and Adil Kappa
(member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity)
graduated in 2012. I had interactions with him
he works for tender in [Los Angeles, California].
I was trying to figure out what I want to do. Big
companies such as, tender, Facebook, snapchat,
twitter, there are a tone of people in the
background. I looked into it and used him as a
resource. Looking for jobs connections with the
right people. My sorority sister work for yelp
kept hitting her up and that why I think Im here
to network at the end of the day when you be
in wondering why you need to maintain the
connection