PAUL CASEY
News Assistant
Students no longer have to wait until they graduate to gain valuable knowledge about the professional world. Now they can meet and learn from Pepperdine alumni, thanks to the Career Center’s newly formed business networking program, Career Advantage.
The program is set up to provide students with easy access to working professionals in the business world and allow them to learn from that professional about specific job requirements, tips on how to excel in that job and other various skills such as job interview etiquette.
Career Advantage facilitates this learning through job shadowing, informational interviews and other forms of correspondence with a professional in a student’s field of interest. These meetings and interactions with business professionals can also help students establish extremely important connections in their potential field that will prove beneficial when looking for a job after graduation.
“At any point in the college experience it could be a great value to make these connections,” Jenny Rusinko, Office Manager at the Career Center, said.
While the program may seem geared to upperclassmen who are sure of what career path they want to follow, Rusinko stressed that the program is open to all grade levels and may even benefit underclassmen who have no idea what they want to do.
“This can help underclassmen decide which major they want to choose,” Rusinko said, pointing out that you don’t need direction to enter the program because it can help find that direction for you.
While in the works for more than five years, the program was only paper–based until this year. Students can now register for the program online at MonsterTRAK, a Web program the Career Center used to create accessibility and efficiency for Career Advantage. Interested students can get instructions on how to register from the Career Center.
The Career Center worked heavily with the Student Alumni Organization, the co-sponsors of the program, to recruit volunteers from various professional markets to take part in providing networking opportunities for students. The majority of the professionals taking part in the program are Pepperdine alumni.
“I believe the greatest benefit is the opportunities it offers to students, not only for networking and future internship and career possibilities, but the chance it gives them to understand the tradition and community that Pepperdine offers beyond their collegiate years,” senior Alissa Smith said. “Meeting alumni and friends of the university who are successful and devoted individuals provides a face for Pepperdine’s mission and vision.”
Career Advantage was not, however, designed to allow students to get internships from the professional contacts they may make, and they actually do not allow students to ask for an intern position. The program does enable students to gain immense knowledge from their professional contact about an industry, company or position within that industry.
“While you don’t actually get internships you get to learn what your job would be about and find out ‘Is it right for me?’” said freshman Tyler Varnell, a student worker at the Career Center.
Because the program is so new, and because there is some misunderstanding among the student body about the program, the Career Center has been out promoting the program since the beginning of the school year. Rusinko and Varnell both pointed out that Career Center employees have been pleased with how well the promotion for Career Advantage has gone so far.
“We’ve already seen students wearing our t-shirts and we’ve made a few posts on WaveNet as well,” Rusinko said. “The response has been positive and we’ve already seen a slow trickle of students coming in with some interest.”
Information sheets with a list of frequently asked questions about Career Advantage are available for all students in the Career Center in the Tyler Campus Center.
09-20-2007