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We most certainly were! Last Monday, the Hechinger Report published an insightful and interesting story on colleges starting career education early. Thanks to our innovative and effective Career Education and Outcomes program, Bentley is included, along with the Director of Undergraduate Career Education and Outcomes, Alyssa Hammond.
“I had [seniors] coming in who had never been to the office and had never thought about career development and were in a massive panic,” said Alyssa Hammond, director of undergraduate career education and outcomes at Bentley University. Bentley also now begins that process in the first year with a new career course Hammond said is attended by 99 percent of first-year and transfer students.
“We help students tell their story and understand what their story is,” said Hammond. “Many of them have not even given thought to this. They think, ‘I’m only 18 years old. I don’t have a story.’ But actually they do.”
In addition to covering such basics as how to create a LinkedIn profile, the program helps students plan their time in college so it syncs with what they want to do in their careers.
“The reason it’s important to do that early is that the student needs to develop these experiences — not just internships but all of these other experiences that you’re going to get during your college life,” said Hammond. “How are they making you marketable? How are they driving you to a career you’ll really like?”
In fact, the article, “Colleges Welcome First-Year Students by Getting Them Thinking About Jobs” was published exclusively in US News and World Report. To read the full story, click here.
