Students Explore Careers in the Booming Beauty Industry

“The trek helped clarify to me that there is room for women in science-based backgrounds in cosmetics, particularly in formulations and science communications roles,” said Moore, a biology major and chemistry minor.

The career trek to cosmetics and skin-care companies Benefit Cosmetics and Tatcha in San Francisco was one of the most popular treks yet, with a record number of applicants, said Julia Hing, director of employer relationships at the Career Services Center. It comes as the cosmetics and beauty sector established itself as the fastest-growing U.S. retail category last year, according to eMarketer, with consumers spending $94.36 billion.

At Benefit Cosmetics, founded in San Francisco in 1976, students enjoyed bagels, beverages, and goodie bags full of the company’s products. They listened to employees share their experiences at the company and enjoyed a mini tour of the headquarters, described as “a Barbie girl’s dream” by Moore.

“They had this amazing company history timeline on the wall that depicted [the company’s] important moments, like the launch of different cornerstone products like Benetint and Hoola Bronzer,” Moore said.

Arya Srivastava ’25, a computer science major who wants to be a full-stack software developer, said she went on the trek to explore different opportunities in software development.

“I want to learn more about e-commerce, and attending the trek was the perfect opportunity to learn more about what the tasks of a software developer who doesn’t work at a traditional tech company look like,” Srivastava said.

After their morning at Benefit and lunch nearby, students took a short walk to the Tatcha office. There, they heard from employees from different departments and enjoyed a networking session at the company’s Japanese-inspired headquarters. (Its founder was vacationing in Kyoto when she was inspired to create the brand.)

Claudia Regiarto ’25, a business analytics major who is interested in product design and management as well as marketing, said she was encouraged by what she learned at the two companies.

“A key takeaway for me was that companies do look at more than just a candidate’s experience,” Regiarto said. “Benefit, for example, values qualities like wisdom, creativity, and authenticity, which are just as important as professional experience.”

For Moore, her favorite part was hearing about the different employee groups at Benefit, “almost like clubs here on campus that you can pursue in your professional life as well,” she said. “There is a role for everyone in the cosmetics industry, not just marketing or advertising-based roles.”

Srivastava said the trek helped her see how multi-faceted beauty companies are, even though at first she wasn’t sure she would learn about career opportunities.

“I quickly found that there were many departments at Benefit and Tatcha, and that they — specifically Benefit — really work on bringing departments together in order to foster more community and ease of being able to work on diverse teams,” Srivastava said. “I really enjoyed having the opportunity to get a look at a different side of business than I’m used to.”