Immigrant Student Turns Tesla Layoff into Opportunity, Launches Career Newsletter

As of November 2025, Arlina Yang, a junior at the University of California, Davis, has turned a major career setback into an opportunity to empower thousands of students. In 2024, Yang, an immigrant from Taiwan, was excited to land a software and digital media communications internship at Tesla. However, just a few months later, she received the devastating news that her internship had been rescinded as part of a larger layoff that impacted over 14,000 Tesla employees.

Rather than letting the loss of her dream internship derail her, Yang used the experience to become more resilient. She spent hours reworking her resume and applying to every job she could find on LinkedIn. When she was unable to secure another internship that summer, Yang decided to take a different path. She launched a newsletter called "Career Now" to provide guidance and support to other students, like herself, who may lack the resources or family support to navigate their early career journeys.

Today, Yang's newsletter reaches over 73,000 students, providing them with information about job opportunities and leveling the playing field for those without the same privileges. In addition to her newsletter, Yang has also become a campus leader for Notion and is working as a content marketing intern at Siemens during the school year. Looking ahead, she plans to study abroad in Europe in the fall while continuing to document her recruitment journey for a social media summer internship next year.