Students and alumni from the College of Arts & Sciences gathered in late June for a series of networking events, helping students explore careers in health care, finance, politics/government and media.
The Arts & Sciences Career Connections Committee hosts events during summer and winter breaks in New York City and Washington, D.C. The committee is made up of A&S alumni in various fields who have a desire to help students plan their futures.
“Talking with alumni, seeing how many liberal arts majors are in finance, it’s encouraging and makes you realize that this field could be for anyone,” said Mark Gambeski ’24, who’s graduating in December. “They reiterated the importance of learning the critical liberal arts skills — critical reading, clear writing and the ability to do research.”
Jen Maclaughlin, director of A&S Career Development, said the events give students a chance to find out from alumni what it’s really like to work in a given field.
I LIKED THIS QUOTE FROM MARK, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE IT WOULD BE BETTER COMING FROM YOU? OR IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO FOCUS ON? “The alumni talked about how the A&S curriculum teaches you how to learn,” Gambeski said. “For them, it was more important as they started to know how to learn than to know where things go on a spreadsheet.”
The finance event in New York City June 26 included time for informal networking, as well as structured 1:1 networking chats between students and alumni.
Students receive a list of expected alumni attendees beforehand, and many students, like Gambeski, do some LinkedIn research to know who they’ll be meeting.
“It’s all about building relationships,” said Gambeski, who is majoring in information science and the history of art and visual studies. “The alumni are really excited to talk to students, especially younger students who aren’t necessarily there just asking them for a job.”
Since he’s a senior and has been to several of these events before, Gambeski said one of his missions at the events is to help other students there.
“I like to be a resource for other students,” he said. “I also try to meet young alumni who have just graduated. They know the logistics of how you get that first interview and know where the open seats are on their teams.”
For more information on the Arts & Sciences Career Connections Committee, visit the A&S Career Development website.
