You can find dates and times for all GCC-sponsored programs in Handshake. Be sure to sign in when you arrive so your attendance is properly recorded. Include here a reflection piece on your experience.
On November 1st, I attended a virtual alumni career panel that talked about careers in digital media. There were 4 guest speakers; Adam Borden’98, Tom Constabile’96, Jeanne Kramer-Smyth’90 and Jacqueline Chapman’08. I found this talk extremely eye opening as all speakers came from different backgrounds and worked in many different industries; Adam talked about how he had no idea that he would end up in the casino industry and Jeanne has a great work life balance where she does many creative things she enjoys outside of her job.
After giving us a rundown of what they all do for work, how they entered their industries and what they enjoy about their careers, they went on to talk about more broad advice involving going into careers in digital media and in general. Firstly, they gave really good advice on learning as you go, all of them said that I needed to learn how to love learning and start paying attention to what’s going on; you don’t have to be good at everything straight away and they assured me that we will learn most of our technical skills on the job. I personally related to this because I think I fear not being skilled enough but they said that it’s okay to feel intimidated but these people with the skills you want to have, have been in your exact position and that you have to start somewhere. Specifically related to career searching, they advised us to look at job ads that you would want to have later in life, 5-10 years from now and see what requirements are needed so that you can equip yourself with the skills in your next job.
Additionally, they also talked a lot about networking which I even got to ask about in the Q&A session. We were told that it is very important to be authentic and that we shouldn’t be afraid to reach out and connect with people; networking is very important and it’s good to foster your relationships to further your career goals. One way they put it was “you have bought access to the Wesleyan network and it is your opportunity to leverage it”. From this call, especially with them being alumni, I realize that many of them have been in the same situation that I am currently in and they said that it is a privilege to help younger students figure it all out and that we add value to the conversation as well.
In response to the question I asked about how to reach out to alumni, they said informational interviews are a great way to have first contact and that it is important to be prepared. I need to learn about the person, industry they work in and come up with questions that they wouldn’t put on the internet. Furthermore, Tom said something really stuck out to me, he said that “who you work with is very important, be in a job with people you admire and look forward to being with as you evolve in your career”; I thought that was a great outlook on careers and life in general because work will eventually take up a lot of time and it’s important to surround yourself with inspiring people.
