Alumni Profile

Oluwajoba Odediran

oluwajoba.odediran@gmail.com

Program: MPH, MAIA
Graduation Year: 2022
Employer: University of Miami, Toppel Career Center
Job Title: Assistant Director of Career Education & Outreach

Oluwajoba Odediran has a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition & Food Science with a concentration in Dietetics and she recently earned her Master of Arts in International Administration and Master of Public Health from the University of Miami. She currently is the Assistant Director of Coaching & Outreach at the University of Miami’s Toppel Career Center. In her role, she supervises the hiring and training of 15 student career coaches alongside developing outreach events on topics such as resume building, interview prep, and networking/mentoring.

• What motivated you to study public health?

  I have a bachelors in nutrition & food science and wanted to study something more broad for my graduate degree. I always had an interest in health specifically food insecurity, so public health seemed like a great fit for me!

• Why did you choose the University of Miami for your public health degree?

  The diversity of the communities residing in Miami drew me to UM. Aside from the campus being beautiful, I just knew that there were so many different public health issues to study in this area.

• Describe your career path:

  I realized during my last semester of graduate school that I really had a passion for higher education and working with students, so I began to apply to positions working directly with students. I think that my position now is a perfect combination of my graduate degree and my interests because I am the advisor for pre-health students while also directly supervising and training students in my own department. I'm constantly thinking about my own experiences from undergraduate to now so that I can best help students during their college experience.

• How did you obtain your current position?

  I currently work at the Toppel Career Center on the Gables campus as the Assistant Director of Coaching & Outreach. I found this position through another University of Miami staff member who held the position a couple years before. She had nothing but great things to say about the department and I was so excited when I got hired for the position.

• How did your degree prepare you for your current position?

  I gained a lot of transferable skills during my time as a Graduate & Teaching Assistant in DPHS. In addition to my courses, I learned how to effectively communicate to many different types of people in various formats along with project management. Those are skills that you have to use in any position, so I'm glad that I'm able to use them everyday. I also currently advise the undergraduate pre-health students so I am able to use my knowledge to help them on their career paths!

• What are your long-term career plans/goals?

  My long-term career goals are to enjoy this time out of school (because I was in a dual master's program) and possibly get another degree in a few years.

• What advice do you have for someone interested in your career path?

  Everyone's career path is not linear so don't compare yourselves to others! Every rejection is a redirection.