College to Career: Jesse Peplinski '15

Jesse Peplinski, ‘15

When Jesse Peplinski started taking classes at OCC in the fall of 2013 he didn’t have a career mind. Thanks to guidance from faculty and the College’s Career Center, Peplinski is now well on his way as a Technology Associate at AXA Equitable, an insurance company in downtown Syracuse.

Peplinski’s journey to a career began in one of Professor Tim Stedman’s Computer Science classes. “He, like most faculty at OCC, was great and always took the time after class or during his office hours to talk about class work and my career interests.” During his sophomore year, he received an email from Stedman promoting Hack Upstate, an event where developers, designers and engineers gather to share ideas, form teams and build projects. Peplinski is a four time attendant, and enjoyed it so much he now serves as one of its organizers.

Peplinski also found the help he needed at OCC’s Career Center where he received assistance with his resume, cover letter and interview skills. Lessons learned there helped him earn a summer internship at Kishmish, a Syracuse company which provides businesses of all sizes with innovative solutions in IT, data, voice and digital marketing. He created websites for clients using HTML, CSS, and Wordpress. “The Career Center is the major reason why I landed that internship. It allowed me to get valuable experience while earning money.”

One month before earning his degree from OCC, Peplinski was named top student in the College’s Computer Science major. He transferred to SUNY Potsdam and earned a bachelor’s in Computer Science. He also served as the president of the ACM chapter, and co-founded Hack Potsdam. During his time there OCC’s Career Center contacted him with information about another internship at AXA. Peplinski applied, was awarded the internship and turned it into a full-time job. He credits the Career Center with keeping him in mind after his time on the OCC campus had ended. “Working with the Career Center was one of the best choices I ever made. For them to stay in touch after graduation is something I’ll always be grateful for.”

The OCC Career Center is located in Coulter Hall in room C110. It is open for job-readiness appointments for both students and OCC alumni Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.