In partnership with the Offices of Parent Relations and Alumni Relations, Career Planning hosted a program last fall for current students called “Spotlight on Careers: Exploring Your Future.” In its inaugural year, the program flourished.

The idea was developed to help Hillsdale College students explore the numerous career opportunities available to liberal arts majors and to allow alumni and parents to support the College and its students in a unique way. Excitement from Parent Relations, Alumni Relations and Career Planning grew as the prospect of connecting students, parents and alumni was realized.

The program provided one convenient setting during which students could gain information about various careers from alumni and parent volunteers. There were two 45-minute sessions for each of the 16 volunteers, and 220 Hillsdale College students registered to attend the event. The career topics included law, medicine, non-profit work, politics, education and business.

The talks were followed by a networking dinner in Curtiss Dining Hall. At the dinner, students could choose to be seated at a particular speaker’s table to continue their conversations from the presentations, or they could be seated with one of the other speakers in order to make a new connection.

Students’ input was very important as they established the outline for the program. Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), the national leadership honorary, assisted with the collaboration. ODK members were asked to help develop the list of careers that would be of interest to students.

They also met with staff in the Career Planning Office to discuss and decide how to market the program. ODK members began marketing the program by greeting students outside of Curtiss Dining Hall and elsewhere on campus to explain the event and sign up students to participate.

Spotlight on Careers went very smoothly, with some guest speakers using technology to present information about their industry or organization, while others used the open forum approach. The immediate feedback from the speakers included these statements: “Format gave great opportunity for open discussion”; “I thought it was a great event and setting. Thank you for the opportunity. I would be happy to do more”; and “Call me back–loved it.”

With the success of the initial Spotlight on Careers program, the Offices of Alumni Relations, Career Planning and Parent Relations are considering hosting the program again in the 2008-2009 academic year.

Joanna Wiseley, ’76
Director of Career Planning