Longtime Media, Information and Communication Career Advisor, Pam Garcia-Rivera, is closing her office door one final time as she retires this July. Garcia-Rivera joined the J-School in Spring 2014 and has been creating a lasting impact since.
“One of the great parts of this job is hearing students rave about people like Pam and how they feel they owe their first internship to her or that their career trajectory is because of advice that she gave them on their resume,” said Kathleen Bartzen Culver, J-School director and James E. Burgess Chair in Journalism Ethics. “It’s super rewarding to hear how much students value her, that’s why we will miss her so much.”
Garcia-Rivera graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in housing and consumer economics as well as a M.A. in industrial and labor relations. After graduating, Garcia-Rivera remained in Ithaca, New York and spent the next 17 years working in a variety of professional roles at the university. Soon after, Garcia-Rivera traveled halfway across the country to start her career at UW–Madison. In 2005 she became the Internship Coordinator for the Letters and Science Career Services and was later promoted to Assistant Director.
Since settling into her home on the fifth floor of Vilas Hall in 2014, Garcia-Rivera has spent the last decade connecting with J-School students to help prepare them for the professional world. She has paged through and edited countless resumes and cover letters, assisted in job searches and networking, and led students through a variety of career path options.
Through all of the work Garcia-Rivera has done for students, her favorite part is giving them reassurance.
“What I enjoy most is the ability to give them confidence,” Garcia-Rivera said. “A lot of times I meet students and they don’t think they have any or enough experience and trying to reassure them that they’re just starting out, and they have a lot to offer seems to make some of them feel better about themselves.”
Rising Senior Carson McGrath has met with Garcia-Rivera three times for resume assistance, job searches and more. She has felt the first hand effects of Garcia-Rivera’s unwavering commitment to building students’ confidence even in the face of difficulties.
“I Zoomed with her for help to find summer internships, and while I never actually ended up landing an internship this summer, she was always really good at not being discouraging,” McGrath said. “She told me ‘don’t worry, do not undercut the things that you have on your resume, you’re doing great stuff at Madison,’ she’s very encouraging and really positive.”
One of Garcia-Rivera’s most notable strengths, and a quality that will be missed greatly, is her ability to tailor meetings and job searches to each student she meets. According to Culver, in the Fall 2023 semester Garcia-Rivera connected with a total of 1,386 students through emails, group events and 330 individual advising appointments.
“Pam has really shaped the career paths of so many students who are unsure what they want to do,” said Undergraduate Academic Advisor Sandra Kubat. “Having someone like her with great communication and media experiences, who can shine a light on career pathways some students may have never considered or thought they could be qualified for has made her a guide for a lot of students.”
Over the last 10 years, Garcia-Rivera has continued to stay abreast of the direction of communications industries, created and hosted the annual Advertising and Communications Career Fair and brought countless alumni to campus to assist students as they embark on the professional world.
“I’m definitely going to miss Pam’s spunky energy in the J-School,” McGrath said. “I’m going to miss having her as a familiar face, but I had a great time with her while she was here.”
Garcia-Rivera’s energy and commitment has been shown through the various events and projects she has produced over the last 10 years. Events including the advertising and communication career fair, graduation, alumni awards, and department gatherings are productions Garcia-River explained she will miss in retirement, but the people are the hardest to leave.
“The people are what makes the job,” Garcia-Rivera said. “I’ve met some wonderful and great students, I have great alumni connections and they’ve been really interesting, kind and generous with their time and money. The staff and faculty, all the people that I connect with, sometimes the employers that I’ve worked with, they’ve all been really great partners.”
While future plans for Garcia-Rivera are not solidified, she is eager to have flexibility in her schedule to travel and spend time with her parents.
When Garcia-Rivera announced her retirement a variety of emotions consumed faculty, staff and students. Garcia-Rivera’s presence will be greatly missed, but the impression she has left on students, colleagues and the SJMC will remain.
“It will be a huge loss to the SJMC when Pam retires,” Kubat said. “But when you have someone retiring on top of their game, and knowing that they did everything they could to support students over the decade plus she’s been here, you can’t help but feel gratitude and happiness for them.”