Pulsifer Career Development Center Update

Greetings, families,

Today is reading day at Bentley. This day marks the end of regular classes and a chance for students to “catch up” on projects, get extra studying completed and be ready for the start of final exams tomorrow. When we are together it is a significant day as the daily rhythms of campus life start to shift. You will begin to notice this at home as students move into the exam schedule and slowly the semester will come to a close.

As promised, I wanted to share some advice from Janet Ehl, our Executive Director of the Pulsifer Career Development Center. Many of you have asked about the future of internships and jobs. Below, Janet provides great advice about helping your student think through employment opportunities in these challenging times.

No doubt you have read Monday’s email from the Office of the President regarding the move to trimesters next year. Please remember we will have Zoom Town Hall sessions on Friday, May 1 and Friday, May 8, both at 2:00 p.m. EDT. You can sign up here. I look forward to answering your questions then, along with President Davis-Blake and Provost Blancero.

Next week will be my last weekly email to parents as we wrap up the spring semester. I will continue, however, to keep those of you with returning students up-to-date over the summer. Thank you for your help and support over the last month.

Andrew
J. Andrew Shepardson
Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
 

Engage

Please encourage your student to engage or stay engaged with us! The Pulsifer Career Development Center is open for business remotely Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT. We look forward to partnering with our students and working through this challenging time together. All Career Coaches are meeting individually with students via Zoom, Skype or phone. First- and second-year students can still attend “drop-in” appointments with our career colleagues (upper-class students) Monday through Friday from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT via Zoom. Some of our coaches are also hosting once-a-week open chat meetings for a dedicated population so they can meet as a group and share questions and answers. Our dedicated Career Coaches can provide specialized career action planning guidance, support and resources, based on students’ career path and industry preferences. Our team of Career Coaches and student peer Career Colleagues have conducted over 400 appointments or drop-in meetings since the office started working virtually in mid-March and look forward to continuing to support Bentley students into the spring and summer.

Explore

We are still engaging with our corporate partners! Career community programs that had been planned as in-person events were moved to Zoom meetings, and industry representatives (including alumni) from companies such as Veeva Systems, L’Oréal, the Bulfinch Group and iSlide shared their insights, career paths or open positions with our students. In collaboration with Monster.com, the Career Center invited students to attend a virtual career panel with companies that included Leader Bank, Lionbridge, Jebbit, C Space, Staples, Eversource and MullenLowe U.S. We had a consulting career panel hosted via Zoom where upper-class students shared their experience and advice and also partnered with a faculty member for an informative panel managing the interview process in the virtual world. The Trading Room is hosting chats with investment industry representatives, and we will have career prep sessions for virtual interviews and non-profit industry career pathing as well as several more events over the next few weeks. The Career Center is also running a virtual boot camp for seniors still seeking employment. Your student can view recordings of many of the events that have already taken place (recently and further back).

Experience

The Employer Relations and Recruiting team within the Pulsifer Career Development Center team is still posting jobs and internships within our Handshake portal through which you will apply for employment opportunities, attract employers your profile, schedule career coaching sessions, and find relevant career events. We are starting to see internships come in as remote opportunities. We partner with Parker Dewey for micro-internships (short-term paid professional assignments typically ranging from 5 to 40 hours of work) to connect Bentley career launchers with companies in need of support. Students have access to two 24/7 online job search tool platforms, VMock for instant resume reviews and feedback, and the mock interview platform Big Interview, where students can practice, record and review themselves in addition to working with their Career Coach. Additionally, the Career Center team seeks to identify volunteer opportunities that can give students experiential growth and encourages use of the free LinkedIn Learning that students can have, which allows them to gain skills and competencies that are resume-builders and add to their LinkedIn profile.

• For access to or questions about the Handshake portal through which you will apply for employment opportunities, attract employers your profile, schedule career coaching sessions, and find relevant career events please have your student contact GA_Recruiting_Info@bentley.edu.
• To access information about and to apply for micro-internships, Bentley students can click here.
• To start exploring volunteer opportunities, check out Volunteer Match.
• LinkedIn Learning is an online educational platform that helps you discover and develop business, technology-related, and creative skills through expert-led course videos. With more than 5,000 courses and personalized recommendations, you can discover, complete and track courses related to your field and interests. You can also choose to add these courses and related skills to your LinkedIn profile once you've completed them. Explore subjects such as: Business Analysis and Strategy, Finance and Accounting, Professional Development, Excel, Python, SQL and much more! Free to Bentley students.
• To access Big Interview and many other resources, head to our Resources page.

Expect

Families and students can expect us to be here to work with our students through the end of the school year, all summer and beyond! We will work to keep identifying experiential opportunities for our Bentley students, whether they are internships, volunteer opportunities or projects, and will help them to continue to build their network. We ask that you encourage your students to stay connected to us as the semester winds down academically and ensure they check out and take advantage of all our resources!  

Please encourage your Bentley student to pay attention to the emails and newsletters from their Career Coach and have them reach out to us with any questions or concerns at GA_UCS@bentley.edu. Thank you!