Alumni Career Fair Gives Seniors Insight Into Professional World

 

On January 26, more than a dozen members of that network spent an evening with the class of 2017 at the annual Rivers Alumni Career Fair hosted by the Career Development Committee. The seniors were able to hear alumni speak on topics such as education, finance, social media and branding, entrepreneurship, and healthcare in addition to a panel discussion – moderated by CDC chair Greg Stoller ’87, P’19,’21 – that spotlighted Brad Karelitz ’04, Alex Krotinger ’04, and Cathleen Connors ’09 and their journeys after Rivers.

 

“When you get to college you have a lot of flexibility in your schedule, so when your alarm goes off for an 8:00 a.m. class you want to go and learn something and be inspired,” said Alex, who now works in Services and Product Training at HubSpot. “I was fortunate to take art history while at Rivers and ended up majoring in Art History with a minor in architectural design at Connecticut College, so my advice on picking a major would be to pick something you are interested in – just because you didn’t major in business or finance doesn’t mean you won’t find yourself working in the business world if that is where you want to be.”

 

After the panel discussion, students headed off to the first of two breakout sessions they were assigned to, based on feedback they provided the alumni office. The sessions allowed the seniors to hear from alums that have pursued various careers they might be thinking about as they head off to college.

 

“I liked hearing about the paths the speakers took to get to where they are now, instead of just what they do at their job,” said Nina Duffy ’17. “I also liked being able to pick which sessions I went to – for example, I’m not interested in finance, so I didn’t have to listen to that, but I might be interested in education or non-profits and I got the chance to hear about what it's like to work in that setting.”

 

For Stoller, who has taught business courses at Boston College and Boston University for the last two decades, this event gives the seniors an “unfair competitive advantage” as they enter college and pursue internship opportunities.

 

“There is so much information available online, that you really don’t need to meet with people in order to get answers to most of your questions,” Stoller said. “But the one thing that you can’t duplicate is the ability to ask a person, ‘what is it like to do this? What were your biggest successes? What were your other challenges, and how does that impact me?’”

 

Stoller is offering another opportunity for Rivers students to increase that advantage this summer with a Summer Academic Program called “Business Planning: Entrepreneurship in Action” that will provide students with real-world experience alongside actual entrepreneurs.

 

“This summer course is yet another feather in the cap for Rivers in terms of the work the faculty is doing with experiential learning,” Stoller said. “What makes this such a unique opportunity is that I want the students to not only go out and analyze, and innovate, and create, but to also learn at the foot of the proverbial master alongside a practicing entrepreneur.”

 

Click here to watch a video from the 2017 Alumni Career Fair.

 

Click here to learn more about Rivers’ Summer Academic Programs.

 

Thank you to all of the alumni who attended! If you are interested in attending next year's event - or would like information about future networking opportunities - please contact Director of Alumni Engagement Marc Stroum at m.stroum@rivers.org

 

Charlie Abrams ’88 – Business/Entrepreneurship

Alan Breitman ’88 – Finance

Cathleen Connors ’09– Social Media/Branding

Bridget Garsh ’00– Internships

Bryan Ginsberg ’09– Networking/Interviewing

Kaleigh Hunt ’09 – Healthcare

Brad Karelitz ’04 – Networking/Interviewing

Alex Krotinger ’04– Technology

Jason Medeiros ’01 – Education

Julia Robinson ’02 - Business/Entrepreneurship

Greg Stoller ’87 – Moderator

Matt Tobin ’90 - Business/Entrepreneurship

Bernie Torri ’73 – Internships

Ned Wallroth ’03 – Business/Entrepreneurship