Career Path of a Senior Commissioning Engineer at Sindoni Consulting and Management Services
After initially pursuing psychology and political science at UCSB, a career in local politics followed graduation, but Cameron found "it wasn't necessarily what I wanted to do." An administrative internship at Sindoni Consulting unexpectedly sparked an interest in engineering, leading to a full-time position and over six years of growth within the firm, "falling in love with engineering" and now working as a Senior Commissioning Engineer.
Career Exploration, Overcoming Challenges, Career Development, Motivational Stories, Real-World Examples
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Cameron Schunk
Senior Commissioning Engineer
Sindoni Consulting & Management Services, Inc.
University of California, Santa Barbara
N/A
Humanities, Political Science, American Studies, Psychology
Architecture, Construction & Design, Healthcare, Medical & Wellness
Operations and Project Management
Transfer Student, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Cameron's career path highlights a willingness to explore different fields and adapt to new opportunities. Starting with psychology and political science majors, he transitioned through roles in local politics and office administration before discovering a passion for engineering within his current firm.
2. His experience shows that a diverse background can be valuable. Skills gained in political work (organization, communication) and administrative roles (office management) complemented his later engineering career.
3. Cameron emphasizes the importance of initiative and passion. His proactive approach, seeking out opportunities within his internship and expressing interest in engineering, led to a full-time position and career progression. This underscores the value of self-advocacy and showing initiative in one's career.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path, starting with your experiences in college? Do you have any internships or jobs you had before your current role?
I went to UCSB, transferring there from community college in 2013. I came in as a transfer student and originally majored only in psychology.
Once I got to UCSB, I had completed most of my general education courses in community college. This gave me the opportunity to pursue a double major, so I decided to also major in political science because it was interesting to me. My original focus was to go into clinical psychology, looking at master's programs and possibly medical school.
I took a different path when I got involved in local politics during my time at UCSB. This was especially after the tragedy in Isla Vista at the end of my first year there. This event activated many people and got us involved in local politics. I was pretty involved in the push for the creation of an Isla Vista Community Services District.
Through this, I got involved with the local assembly member who represented the area. After I graduated, I ended up working for him at the California State Assembly when he ran for a seat on the Board of Supervisors. I followed him to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors.
I struggled with my experience in politics because I recognized it wasn't what I wanted for my career or my passion. When I transitioned away from that job, it was rewarding, but it wasn't for me. I was left feeling directionless, unsure of what to do next.
Fortunately, I got an internship with the company I work for now, doing basic administrative tasks. These were very basic tasks, like hole punching and organizing binders and files. The idea was that I had a strong background in organization, office administration, and understanding how large organizations worked.
The company was pretty small when I was an intern, and we've gotten bigger. I thought I would see if office administration or back-of-house functions was what I wanted to do. Over time, I actually fell in love with engineering. We are an engineering consulting firm, and I came to recognize how complicated the process of designing and building something can be.
I became fascinated with all the systems and everything that happens behind the scenes for any building. I ended up asking the owner of the company if there was an opportunity to go full-time. Most of my colleagues have engineering backgrounds.
I thought this was a long shot, but our company is unique in that we're always willing to take a chance on people. This is especially true if they show up, work hard, and have a passion for what we do. The owner took a chance on me and asked me to move to Northern California to support a large healthcare project.
I moved north after interning for about eight months. I've been with the company for a little over six years now.