Editorial: The Career Center’s new Academies show promise

Over the past several years, the Career Center has gone through a comprehensive restructuring to better serve students as they prepare to enter the workforce.

One of the major changes includes Career Academies, which are networks of employers, alumni and faculty centered around a specific industry that students may use in their professional pursuits.

These six new Academies are Arts, Media & Marketing, Consulting, Finance, Health Sciences, Nonprofit & Government and STEM & Innovation.

We are heartened to see that there is a wide range of professions relevant to Hopkins students covered by these Academies.

The Career Center is also  holding career weeks dedicated to each of the academies offering panels, information sessions and networking events.

The weeks are scheduled based on recruitment timelines for each industry. For example, the Consulting Academy Week was held in mid-September since that is the peak hiring period for consulting firms.

These changes illustrate how the Career Center is making conscious decisions on how they can best cater to students.

The Career Center is also developing an “In Baltimore” program designed to connect students with Baltimore employers and local internships. The Center hopes to be able to offer financial support to students involved in the program who take unpaid internships.

We believes these new initiatives are substantial improvements to the Career Center. These Academies include a diverse range of professional networks that can benefit many students on campus, and the “In Baltimore” program is a great way to increase student involvement and investment in our city.

It is still early in the school year and we hope that the Career Center will continue their current efforts. Moving forward, the Center should continue to take steps to ensure more students engage with and take advantage of the new opportunities available. The programs will only be effective if students are aware of them.

However, it’s also up to us to  take the initiative and use the new resources the Career Center has developed over the past couple of years. We must then offer feedback so that the Center can continue to refine its services.