Many students come to Quinnipiac with a specific end goal in mind – to have a job upon graduation.

Depending on a student’s major, there are various opportunities and resources available to help guide them along this difficult process, in hopes of long-term success.

“The idea that students need to be career ready by the time they graduate is something that we take very seriously,” Lila Carney, director for advising and student development for the School of Communications, said. “We gather information from employers, we find out where they think students are strong and where students are coming out and still needing work. Then we hone in on those weaknesses and make sure students are career ready.”

[media-credit name=”Infographic by Madison Fraitag” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Each school has a career development office where staff are equipped to help students seek out internships, field experiences, jobs, or advice. Additionally, the school has Quinnipiac University Career Connection, QUCC, which is a career portal for students of all majors to access and search for jobs and internships.

School of Communications

In the School of Communications, students are given various opportunities. Past internships have taken place with Fox, the National Football League and General Hospital to name a few. Students are encouraged to participate in the QU in LA program where they can study and work in Los Angeles for a semester or for the summer. All majors are welcome to take part in this program.

“Over the summer I was able to intern at H2R Productions in Los Angeles,” Rico DiFronzo, junior film, television and media arts major said. “I was able to attend meetings with various television networks and meet some of the network executives. The whole experience helped me to learn a lot about how the industry works and experience so many opportunities in the heart of the film world.”

School of Business

“I’m not sure I could name just one or two most important parts of career development – there’s a lot that goes into it,” School of Business Assistant Dean Michael Taylor said. “Beyond writing good resumes and cover letters that will get hiring managers to notice them, students need good interviewing skills. A good academic record is important as well – but just as important are other activities such as developing leadership skills through involvement in clubs and organizations, as well as internship experiences in the years leading up to graduation.”

Business students are able to focus on these skills by taking the course Career Planning and Development, SB-250. This is a required career development class that focuses on resume and cover letter writing, interviewing tips and skills and ways to stand out on social media such as through LinkedIn.

Business students have been very successful at receiving full-time job offers and internship offers across all majors with a 99.3% placement rate upon graduation. Companies students have gone on to work for include Deloitte, Travelers Insurance, Cigna, Northwestern Mutual, among others. Students also have the opportunity to intern abroad in countries such as China and England.

School of Education

In the School of Education, there are various internship seminars that students are required to attend that assist in finding and securing teaching positions. Seminars include resume writing, mock interviews and certification for both elementary and secondary education.

“During our Mock Interviews, 50 administrators from Connecticut schools participate and often will find just what they were looking for in a teacher candidate,” Beth Larkins-Strathy, associate dean of the School of Education said, “During the year, administrators from area schools come to QU and help our candidates with interviewing skills and writing resumes and cover letters.”

The School of Education launched the Alumni Bridge Program in 2016 for recent graduates. This was done to provide first-year teachers with support throughout their transition into the classroom.

College of Arts & Sciences

Students in the College of Arts and Sciences have access to CAS = 360, an online portal for advising and career development. With 20 majors in the College of Arts and Science, students have been able to intern at places like the FBI, the Smithsonian Institution and various non-profit organizations. Students also have the option to have more business-oriented internships in places such as HBO or Ralph Lauren.

School of Engineering

In the School of Engineering, opportunities are available as well. Students attend two university career fairs and resume writing workshops throughout the year. Like other schools, the School of Engineering conducts mock interviews for students as well.

Some of the places students have interned or received job offers have been Sikorsky Aircraft, Pratt and Whitney and Aptar.

Students are able to conduct research for their field. Currently, students are doing research on an archaeological site in Hungary with faculty members.

School of Health Sciences & School of Nursing

For Health Science and Nursing majors, there is a Health Career Fair at North Haven. It takes place during spring semester and gives all students an opportunity to meet recruiters and potential employers.

“An example of the benefit of hosting this event involved a hospital representative from Long Island, NY,” Debra Fisher, Assistant Dean of Student Services in the School of Nursing said. “Prior to the Health Career Fair three junior nursing students from Long Island came to me requesting information about summer student nurse internships in this location. It just so happened that the employer from Long Island mentioned that she specifically came to the Health Career Fair because she had heard from several employers that QU has a high quality nursing program. Her goal was to recruit nursing students for her institution.”

Senior nursing majors additionally have the opportunity to partake in mock interviews and resume writing workshops.

Many nursing majors had internships in Connecticut area hospitals such as Yale and St. Vincent’s. Others interned at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City and Tufts Medical Center in Boston. There are plans to expand student options to more New York and New Jersey areas.

“Especially in the nursing, clinicals or any type of volunteer experience can really help with the future of your career,” Isabel Berliner, junior nursing major said. “It allows you to have hands-on experience, become more comfortable when interacting with patients, and being able to learn how to deal with chaos.”

Health Science majors have clinical rotations and field experience embedded into their programs. For example, undergraduate biomedical sciences and health science studies majors take HSC-397, in which students shadow and volunteer with various employers throughout the semester in places such as Yale New Haven Hospital or Hartford Hospital.

Overall, there is one goal in mind for all Quinnipiac faculty – to give students the opportunities and experience to enter the real-world with foundational knowledge to take with them in their careers.

“The focus of our program for academic and career development is on exploration, implementation, and reflection,” Rick Delvecchio, director of career development in the College of Arts and Sciences said. “One of the worst things that can happen to you professionally is to end up in a job for forty or more hours a week, that makes you miserable, just because someone told you it would be a ‘good career.’”