SANTA ANA, Calif. – Career counselors would love Kathrina Calbes.

By using networking, internships, youthful energy and other techniques touted by career experts, Calbes has successfully transitioned from college to the working world. Now 23 years old, Calbes has been promoted twice since she was 21, boosting her annual salary by $10,000 in 14 months.

“She is very enthusiastic,” said Sharon Dang, human-resources manager at Contiki Holidays, the travel wholesaler where Calbes works as a marketing coordinator. “She shows that she is willing to learn and work hard.”

Calbes interviewed very well, Dang said, showing that she had researched the company before she came to the initial interview with Dang.

All those things initially landed Calbes in a job as a part-time reservations agent in 2001. But when a marketing position opened up a month later, the good impression she made during the first interview lingered, and Dang asked Calbes to interview for the job.

“There were a few people who had administrative backgrounds that looked good on paper,” Dang said. “But after speaking with (Calbes), she was the best overall.”

Calbes got the marketing position in January 2002. Sixteen months later, in April 2003, she was promoted again, to marketing coordinator.

Although the work Calbes does at Contiki is crucial to her success, she probably wouldn’t be where she is today if it weren’t for the work she did while she studied for her degree in public relations at California State University, Fullerton. Immediately after she began her studies in 1999, Calbes began thinking of ways to get the work experience she knew she needed to be successful after college.

First, she supported herself with a part-time job as a hotel receptionist.

Then, she did internships. The college requires one internship to graduate, but Calbes did two – one doing marketing for SeaWorld in 2000 and one for the Orange County Fair in 2001.

“I knew I wanted internships with a focus on tourism,” Calbes said.

“SeaWorld and the fair gave me that.”

She joined the Public Relations Student Society of America on campus and began networking.

There, she met mentors who gave her professional advice and job leads. She took board positions as historian and public relations director to apply her skills to real-life projects.

All the things she learned in school, at the Public Relations Society events and on her internships came together when she started working at Contiki her junior year in 2001.

“Everything I do at work has helped with projects at school and vice-versa,” Calbes said.

Her last semester in school, the class was running a mock public-relations agency for a nonprofit group. The work included writing press releases and other things Calbes already did at her day job at Contiki. “I was the only one in the group with professional experience,” Calbes said.

At work, she uses the advice her mentors gave her during her college years.

“Everyone always told me not to think of myself as a college student working but as a working professional,” Calbes said. “They told me to study everyone in every department and to keep notes. I have the notes, so one day when I’m in management, I know what to do and what not to do.”

The mentors also helped her get through those first six months, when Calbes did mostly administrative duties, supporting the other employees. The mentors had warned her that she’d have to start at the bottom and prove herself to move up. Calbes kept at it, volunteering for projects, bringing up ideas. The turning point came when Contiki got the assignment to organize a trip to Australia for the cast of MTV’s “The Real World.”

Calbes “jumped up,” taking the initiative to coordinate the flights and schedules for the cast and crew. That eventually made her a full member of the public relations team at Contiki.

Calbes technically finished school last semester but will officially walk in the graduation ceremony in May. But her ties with the college will continue, as she is involved in resume-writing workshops for the Career Center. She also speaks publicly as the co-chairwoman of the Young Professionals of Orange County Public Relations Society of America.

Although she’s happy at Contiki – she gets to go on trips to Europe and Australia to understand the kinds of trips the company offers – her dream job is an executive marketing position. Preferably with Quiksilver, Steve Madden or another “youth-oriented” company.

“Working for a fun, youthful company helps you keep that state of mind,” Calbes said.