Career and Professional Development services still being offered remotely

The Office of Career and Professional Development is a strong resource for students who are approaching graduation and alumni to find employment and internship opportunities.

That continues even now, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, although the methods have had to be adapted. Intead of students being able to stop into the office for an appointment, assistance or to pick up handouts, they now have to manage all of that remotely.

Sara Hathaway, director of Career and Professional Development, has been working diligently to ensure that she is doing everything she can to help our soon-to-be graduated seniors. She sent seniors a survey asking what they needed and what kind of services would be the most helpful. She then reached out to students based on what kind of help they needed.

A newsletter also was sent out through Handshake to keep everyone updated about what kinds of opportunities there are.

Hathaway is offering meetings to students looking for assistance either via phone call or Zoom. She helps with cover letters, mock interviews, finding a job or internship, and what to do if a student had an internship that has since been canceled because of the pandemic.

On top of having meetings with students, Hathaway maintains the Career Center tab
on the portal with information to help students. Some of it is a digital version of the handouts students would have been able to pick up in the office or would have received through a Catalyst session.

Handshake maintains real time list of hiring freezes and opportunities for remote telecommuting work so that students know where they should be applying.

A surprising upside to the remote work has been that “the career services community has gotten better at sharing resources and information,” Hathaway says.

Hathaway also keeps students informed about virtual events taking place such as a recent panel with the Milwaukee Bucks that focused on sports management.

A difficult aspect of remote work, Hathaway says, is the lack of face-to-face engagement. She also misses the student staff, and she has been working to check in with them and to stay in touch.

Jillian Heidenreich ’22
Monroe, Wisconsin