Spring has finally sprung, and Career Month is in full swing! There have already been so many fantastic events, like IBM-UMBC Day, and the CAHSS Careers Conference. There is another upcoming event I’d especially like to highlight: Arts with a Purpose! This event is made just for our creative majors, including visual arts, graphic design, cinematic arts, film/video, theatre, dance, music, MCS, and INDS. If you fit these majors, come to this event to gain advice from professionals and get a chance to network with them!
UMBC has a strong undergraduate liberal arts foundation, but it’s no secret that there is a pretty strong STEM presence here. Biology is the largest department on campus, and it seems like employers are only looking for students with lab experience or tech experience. I understand that trying to pursue your passion in the arts can be disheartening at times, but here at the Career Center we want to ensure you that your career goals are valid and you will achieve them!
Arts with a Purpose is an event that Career Center has held for several years now, and it is not only a place to hear the stories of people who have succeeded in making a living creating things they are passionate about, it is also a great opportunity to network and make connections with those people. Personal networking is one of the best way to find jobs AND land jobs. This event will have 20 employers, including several offices here at UMBC looking to hire students in the arts. How can you best be prepared?
Make a 30-second commercial: this should be a clear and concise tool to communicate the skills you have and the goals for your future. Make sure you practice it so you can convey yourself with confidence!
Do some research on the employers: we have a full list of the employers attending, so check out who you might be interested in so that you go in with a game plan.
Have your resume and/or portfolio ready to go: Bring plenty of copies of your resume to give to employers, and you can even sign up for a 15-minute portfolio review! All students in relevant majors will be sent an email about the event that includes a sign-up for the portfolio reviews.
Be ready to listen: We are bringing in some great panelists that have endless advice to give, so make sure you are taking it all in - and take notes!
We want ALL students at UMBC to feel they have a chance at success, so this event is designed for all of our creative majors to have that chance. Keep a lookout for all the other great events happening this month as part of Career Month!
You hear it all the time: “The best way to find a job is through networking.” The word networking gets thrown around a lot, but not everyone is really sure how it works, or what the benefits are. The idea is that you have to have connections; you have to “know people”. Personally, I don’t know any “people”, so how am I supposed to network and get a good job? The Career Center is your networking connection. We bring employers to you, and we even bus you to employers! There are constantly networking events going on on-campus, which is why the best plan is to look at our calendar of events and plan out when your next networking adventure will be!
The truth is: you do know people. Even your relatives count, so when you’re at the thanksgiving table, you should be networking! And that doesn’t mean outright asking them for a job, but rather asking if they know people who work in your desired field. Personally, as a psychology major, my family members tell me about their friends who own their own counseling practice, and are totally willing to answer my questions. I’ve even been given internship offers from these friends of relatives. A lot of introverts might be reading this and thinking the idea of approaching someone to ask about connections is a horrible idea, but there are also opportunities for you. Introverts can be great observers and great listeners, which can still help you pick up details about where to find connections. Remember: everyone has connections, and YOU have the means of finding them!
There are several types of networking events available to UMBC students. The biggest and most popular event is the big Career and Internship Fair held each semester. It’s like speed-dating for jobs! But there are many others that students aren’t aware of. For example: we have information sessions where you can meet directly with employers like the CIA this week or Northwestern Mutual Financial Network a few days later. This is an easy and effective way to meet with recruiters and get your name on their good list. We also have our On the Road series, where the Career Center provides transportation to places like T. Rowe Price, the Space Telescope Science Institute, Exelon, and tons more. The series is done for this semester, but it picks right up again in February with a trip to Cisco Systems where students will get a tour of the facilities, as well as an inside scoop on internship and career opportunities.
Even with all of these free and easy events to connect you directly to employers, you might be wondering what to do with yourself once you actually get there. A great place to start before actually meeting people in person is the website LinkedIn. UMBC has several networking pages on LinkedIn including the UMBC Alumni-Student Networking Group that connects you directly to UMBC alumni in your desired field. Also, the Career Center website has a list of Top 10 Networking Tips to help you get started, as well as tools to develop your 30-second commercial. One effective networking strategy - especially if you are still exploring your career interests - is the Informational Interview, where YOU get to interview a professional in your desired field about what it’s like to do what they do, and how you could become successful in the field. Now networking doesn’t seem so scary, right? So get there and get networking!