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While all of our Falcons study at school, academic performance and on-campus involvement are both huge factors that affect the kinds of roles they land after graduation. In particular, there is one element of campus involvement that is not usually thought of when you hear the words “career development” and that is peer tutoring. Erin Buckmeier, Class of 2022, is an extremely involved member on campus. She is Panhellenic President, Senior Class Cabinet President, a member of Kappa Delta, and also a Student Coordinator for Undergraduate Academic Services Peer Tutoring.
We all know that accessing peer tutoring services can help students get the personalized academic support they need to succeed and improve in their classes. However, getting involved with peer tutoring as a tutor has major career benefits. Let’s talk about them.
Erin mentions that in her role as a peer tutor and student coordinator (she has been a peer tutor since the fall of her sophomore year in 2019), she has gained experience that she has utilized in every other responsibility. For example, within her peer tutoring roles, she has gotten comfortable working with peers in a professional setting. Through continuing on and advancing to be a Lead Tutor within group tutoring and getting an E-Board position, she has really developed her public speaking skills. Additionally, she has gained a lot of experience presenting in front of large groups, such as in her large Geek Squad sessions. These are all extremely valuable skills that employers look for when hiring Bentley students, and Erin recently completed a successful internship (and accepted a full-time offer back) at PwC as an Audit Associate!
How do interviewers react to peer tutoring, you may ask? Erin says that “it was the main thing [she] was asked about on [her] resume,” even though she had other involvements such as Greek Life and past retail jobs (along with management experience). She also really enjoys peer tutoring, as it is a way to have an active role in helping people rather than just sitting at a desk. Tutoring is a great way to find a sense of purpose and a community on campus.
Erin brings her involvement with tutoring up in interviews in several different ways:
- Showing that she is able to have difficult conversations. In tutoring, there are moments when tutees do not do what they are supposed to, are late to sessions, or are no-shows at sessions. As a peer tutor, you have to handle these situations professionally and make sure that the tutee knows this is unacceptable while also salvaging a working relationship.
- “Tell me about a time when…” questions often apply to tutoring. Tutoring requires problem-solving when tutees do not understand concepts and the tutor must explain something in a different way. Additionally, the concept of failure is explored when tutors have ideas that don’t work (suggesting that the tutee tries something to succeed but it does not work).
- Finally, working in groups and collaborating is a huge part of Erin’s work with tutoring. She often does group tutoring but also collaborates and organizes sessions with other peer tutors, the Senior Academic Advisor of Academic Support Services, and the Executive Director of Academic Support Services. This is a huge point that Erin emphasizes when she is interviewing.
Overall, getting involved in peer tutoring is a great way to make an impact on campus, make some connections, and really impress potential employers. There are great ways to bring up and discuss your tutoring in professional settings, as we can see! If you want to know about Academic Services here at Bentley, click here.
If you have any questions for Erin regarding tutoring or her other involvements, definitely feel free to reach out to her at buckmei_erin@bentley.edu. Check her out at SASA’s upcoming event, Diwali, themed after Disney’s Toy Story, where she will be Jesse on November 12th (next Friday!) at 6:30 PM at the Bentley arena.
