In an effort to offer more resources to students, the Career Center has expanded several of its initiatives this year. In particular, the Center is building on its Career Academies model, which was implemented last year.
The Academies, which are made up of students, alumni, faculty, parents and employers, help students network with professionals in their desired career fields.
The six Academies are Arts, Media & Marketing, Consulting, Nonprofit & Government, Finance, Health Sciences and STEM & Innovation.
Unlike last year, the Career Center has begun hosting Academy-specific weeks with programming events, like workshops and coffee chats. These weeks will be scheduled around the recruitment timelines of the Academies’ respective industries. The Center also plans on hosting monthly meet-ups within industry groups.
Executive Director of the Career Center Ann Garner, who oversees the Academies, began working for Hopkins last May. The University invited Garner to spearhead the Career Academies because she implemented a similar model at other schools.
“One of the things I’m really trying to do is make sure that Hopkins is as current, or as up to speed, in career services as our peer institutions,” Garner said.
Since she started working at the Career Center, Garner has observed that students tend to spend more time online trying to find jobs and internships and less time on in-person interactions with employers.
“It should be the reverse,”she said. “Students should spend more time networking and talking to people and less time sending stuff in.”
Garner emphasized that personal interactions carry more weight during the recruitment process.
“Even if you are qualified, you’re going to be in a stack of two, three, four, five hundred resumes,” she said. “What’s going to distinguish you is someone who knows you and can vouch for you on the inside.”
The Center has undertaken additional changes, like offering more networking sessions in addition to one-on-one appointments. Garner said that the Center is also providing more weekly drop-in sessions.
In order to build stronger relationships between students and employers, the Center will work on creating “In Baltimore,” a program focused on securing Baltimore-based internships for students and funding unpaid internships.
“We already have some of those relationships through the Center for Social Concern (CSC), through the [Community Impacts Internship (CIIP)] Program,” she said. “But we really want to build out our connection with Baltimore employers.”
The Center is also trying to expand employer development efforts in Florida, Texas and the Midwest.
Garner explained that admissions data shows that more students are coming in from those areas of the U.S. and that currently most of the Center’s employer development efforts are based in California, Washington, D.C. and New York City.
“A lot of times, our students want to go back home,” she said. “We need to do a better job of connecting with our alums in those locations.”
This year’s Career Fair took place on Thursday, Sept. 28. A total of 105 companies registered for the Fair, 98 of which were present. This marks an increase from last year’s Fair, which hosted 85 companies.
According to Garner, 17 employers at the Fair were willing to hire international students, higher than in previous years.
She said that it is difficult to have a diverse mix of employers because different industries have varying hiring timelines.
Garner added that scheduling programs around recruitment timelines may lead students to feel there is a disproportionate focus on specific industries.
Senior Taylor Veracka has worked in the Career Center since before the Academies were implemented and has participated in the Arts, Media & Marketing and Nonprofit & Government Academies.
In an email to The News-Letter, she wrote that while she believes it is too early to fairly assess the Academies, she is looking forward to changes the Center is implementing.
“If you have [the] opportunity to meet and network with students who are interested in the same things as you are, who knows what opportunities they might provide you in the future?” Veracka wrote.
She encouraged other students to make use of these resources.
“It is a great way to build a network early, and I think it’s very important that students make those connections sooner rather than later.”
She added that students are responding positively to the program but feels that upperclassmen tend to lack awareness about the Academies and that the Center must continue expanding its outreach.
“I’ve been to a lot of the events this year, and students are definitely intrigued and responding well to the Academy system,” Veracka wrote. “It’s primarily freshmen and sophomores who have the most awareness of the Academies, because they’ve had the programming since the beginning.”
On the other hand, junior Lalit Varada has doubts over the efficacy of Academy programming weeks.
“It’s a little inconvenient if all of the companies you want come in the same week because they’re in the same industry,” he said.
Senior Sophia Chen attended the Career Fair as well as the STEM fair that took place Sept. 20. She feels that the changes the Center is introducing are paying off.
“This year’s Career Fair is much better,” she said. “It’s more organized, more advertised…[The Career Center] is doing a lot of things on campus.”
Freshman Yumi Zhao said that the Career Fair was a good opportunity to familiarize herself with companies that were not necessarily related to her International Studies major.
“There are more finance companies, more research companies,” she said. “But I think I still feel related to the companies here.”
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.