Clarkson Magazine

Career Center Strengthens Campus-World Connections

Innovative programs and strong partnerships enrich learning experiences and fast-track graduates to career success

Three decades ago, the Clarkson Placement Office counseled students on career possibilities and assisted corporate recruitment efforts on campus. The goal was to help graduating seniors secure start-up positions in competitive fields that utilized their skills and experience.

"Career prepartion now is really about equipping students for success from their first year and not simply helping graduating seniors get good jobs."
— Kathryn Johnson

Today, the Clarkson Career Center continues to meet these objectives, but the emphasis has shifted from job placement to career development. Experiential programs, such as study abroad exchanges, co-ops and internships, coupled with strong corporate and alumni partnerships, have earned national awards and recognitions for the Center, and high placement rates and exciting careers for new graduates.

"Our mission has always been to create networks between our students and the wider world," says Kathryn B. Johnson, Vice President for University Outreach and Student Affairs. "Over the years we have found that enriching our students' education through real-world experiences and challenging opportunities builds up their confidence and skill sets so they can make informed career choices. Career preparation now is really about equipping students for success from their first year and not simply helping graduating seniors get good jobs."

Johnson should know. Since 1975, when she took over as director of the then Placement Center, she has witnessed not only a transformation at Clarkson, but within the entire career counseling field. "The field has dramatically changed from small service-based programs to a bustling industry," she says. "When I started, students didn't have resumes. A senior came to an office and filled out individual job applications. Corporate recruiters visited universities and colleges and all interviews took place on campus. The idea of personal or professional enhancement or career preparation simply did not exist."

Even then, she recalls, Clarkson did more than simply hand out forms and pens. "We educated the students on how to present themselves professionally. We prepped them to ask and answer questions effectively. Recruiters said that our students were among the best at marketing themselves."

Vice President of University
Outreach and Student
Affairs, Kathryn Johnson
leads efforts to create
networks between Clarkson
and the wider world.

In the late 1970s, the Placement Office at Clarkson was renamed the Office of Career Planning and Placement and shortly after to Career Development to reflect the shift from placement to career counseling and career preparation with an increasing emphasis on experiential learning, which has always been a hallmark of a Clarkson education.

Today, the Career Center manages over 20 study abroad programs and a growing list of co-op and internship opportunities thanks to the University's strong corporate and alumni partnership and networking programs. Other services include peer advisor programs, job fairs, and interactive seminars that feature everything from interview role-playing to dressing for success.

"We are always developing new programs and enhancing existing ones that will benefit our graduates and our community, as well as meet the changing needs of employers," says Johnson. "Because of this we have managed successfully to stay one step ahead of the profession. Clarkson students have always maintained a competitive edge and strong placement rates even in tough job markets. Right now, it's a buyer's market and the well-placed graduate is the one who has completed a co-op or internship or has displayed a 'thinking-outside-the-box' attitude by studying abroad."

Study Abroad

Spanning international boundaries for broader perspectives

During the 1994-95 academic year a group of Clarkson students embarked on a study abroad program at Lulea University in Lulea, Sweden. The year before seven students from Lulea came to Clarkson. Years earlier, the University had established a small Study Abroad program with the City University of London that was administered through the Admission Office. But the exchange program with Lulea University heralded a new University commitment to develop more overseas educational opportunities for Clarkson students.

Johnson had been attending international conferences designed specifically to bring together universities interested in study abroad partnership programs. She and her staff also asked Clarkson students to create a study abroad "wish list." Using that list as a starting point, Johnson began researching possibilities and building relationships with universities around the world. "Study abroad programs are expensive and complicated to set up. It takes anywhere from six months to two years of building a relationship with a university before an agreement is signed. But our study aboard program continues to expand and we are always on the lookout for universities that match our programs and majors."

Currently Clarkson coordinates exchange programs with universities in a dozen countries, including Australia, Austria, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Mexico, New Zealand, and Sweden. Although most of the programs were developed through the Career Center, a few were initiated by faculty members and even include faculty exchange opportunities. Last year, nearly 50 Clarkson students studied abroad and the same number of exchange students came to Clarkson. "The programs are highly selective, on both sides. Students must maintain a certain GPA and demonstrate a real willingness to step out of their comfort zone and embrace different cultures and new experiences. If they can do that, the educational and personal rewards are enormous," says Barbara Brown-Shor, an associate director of the Career Center who coordinates exchanges.

Junior Meghan E. Graham agrees. "This has been a great experience for me both in and outside the classroom. First, it has opened my eyes to other opportunities in education and sparked an interest in the field of ecology. For our Ecology class, we did a week of fieldwork in the Australian Mallee forests researching habitat preferences of the house mouse and bush rat and looking for rare species of invertebrates. I have always planned to pursue graduate studies, but this has made me rethink other subjects of study I had not before considered. I have also learned to deal with so many different types of people and adapt to a different teaching/learning style."

Alison Johnson, who spent the fall semester at the City University of Hong Kong, also found that total immersion in an unfamiliar culture had a profound effect on her outlook. "It's amazing to see how different other cultures are and what people view as 'normal' in other places. I feel like I am more open-minded and the experiences - hiking the Great Wall of China and climbing to the top of the Giant Buddha on Lantau Island - will be with me forever.

Cristina Danial '05, whose interest in
international business led her to study
at Griffith University in Australia.

"I have learned so much about other countries and cultures and I know this will be a huge help in international business. Studying abroad has made me absolutely certain that I could never have a job that didn't involve doing at least some work abroad."

Industry recognizes the value of study abroad programs for much of the same reason. "Study abroad prepares students for the global marketplace and employers know that," explains Johnson. "All students studying International Business must study abroad. The Alcoa Foundation provided seed money to develop a five-continent exchange focused on global supply chain and international business. Now we're trying to incorporate 8-10 week internships into the study abroad programs. Alcoa and other international corporations want employees who can work in a global economy."

Co-ops and Internships

Learning on-the-job off campus

"The student who is golden is the one with the co-op or internship," says Johnson. "They are better prepared for the world, and the transition from college to career is easier."

Co-ops are off-campus, on-the-job learning experiences in business, industry or government. Students from all majors participate, and can often earn $10 to $25 per hour. Co-ops usually last a summer and a semester, and internships span a summer. "These competitive programs introduce students to individual organizations, employment possibilities in their field of interest, and give them real world life experience in their academic major prior to graduation, as well as valuable work experience," explains Johnson.

Back in 1981, former chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering Edward Kear initiated the first co-op opportunity for Clarkson students. Today, some 66 companies, including IBM, Disney, Procter & Gamble, General Electric, and Sandia National Laboratories partner with Clarkson.

"I have had internships in the zSeries Information Solutions department at IBM in Poughkeepsie every summer since my freshman year," explains Michael Forte '05, who graduated with a dual degree in Technical Communications and Management Information Systems. "During my first year, Communication & Media Department Chair Bill Karis encouraged me to attend the spring career fair and recommended I speak with an IBM recruiter. At the end of spring break I received a phone call from an IBM manager offering me an internship."

"My summers at IBM gave me an opportunity to develop my skills and develop insight into the working world. I was involved in document writing for software and hardware manuals, participated in customer calls, and even attended meetings with senior members of the department. These experiences also gave me a glimpse into other career possibilities. Now I understand how my skills can be applied in a broader way or be adapted to either a technical or management track."

Forte's successful part-time relationship with IBM has turned into a full-time job working alongside the professionals he has come to know and respect. "I had a written contract last fall at the beginning of my senior year. It was an excellent, highly competitive offer with great potential to move horizontally or vertically, depending on where my interests take me. I also know I will be working with a great group of people."

The Alumni Connection

Taking advantage of an historic Clarkson strength

At Clarkson, relationship building also extends to alumni because, as Johnson points out, "Our base of committed alumni has always been one of our greatest resources. The University has long recognized the value of programs designed to bring together current students pondering career possibilities and alumni already achieving in particular professions. One such program is the Alumni/Student Mentor program that was launched this past fall by the Career Center in cooperation with Clarkson's Alumni Relations Office.

"Alumni mentorship is not just for career advising, although that is an important part of it," says Johnson. "Students can ask what an electrical engineer does, or what it's like to live in Denver. The program's mission is to build relationships and get as many alumni as possible, in as many fields as possible, to network with students."

Alumni fill out profiles and can limit the number of student contacts. Students initiate the contact. "The response from the alumni has been fantastic," says Johnson. "As of this spring, over 600 alumni volunteers have offered to network with students and answer their questions."

Student-to-alumni networking panels, which are held over winter break at seven locations throughout the northeast, have also successfully connected the on-campus students to the wider Clarkson community. Last year, networking panels in Albany, Boston, Buffalo, Burlington, North Country, Rochester and Syracuse each hosted, on average, some 20 students and a dozen alumni. Attendees discuss topics such as job opportunities, trends and employment preparation.

The Executive-in-Residence Program was developed, in part, to foster alumni and student connections on campus. "When an alum returns to Clarkson we want to make sure he/she gets the most out of the visit," says Steve Newkofsky, associate vice president for Alumni and Parent Relations. "We make sure they have an opportunity to reconnect with old friends on our staff and faculty, but we also give them exposure to a classroom, student organization, or informal dinner to give current students an understanding that there is life after Clarkson."