Knox Students Gather Tips on Jobs, Careers

Knox College students picked up job-search tips and career advice from Knox alumni at the inaugural Career iMPACT Summit.

Geared specifically toward the liberal arts student, the December 2-3 event also provided networking opportunities with more than a dozen Knox graduates who are building careers in various fields, including law, education, health care, business, and publishing.

Students said they appreciated the pointers from alumni and would start applying some of them immediately.

"My plan was to work on (my job search) over winter break, so this was actually a perfect time for (the career summit) to occur," said Sarah Martin '14, a biology major from Crown Point, Indiana. "I feel way more confident now, after this event, and more willing to go make connections that I wasn't going to go make before."

"I learned a lot here about interviews," said Kate Hovda '15, who is from Seattle, Washington, and has a self-designed major in visual communications. "I learned about how prepared to be when you enter the interview and how to customize your resume for each job that you're applying for."

Sessions included:

• "Using Your Resume to Stand Out in the Crowd," presented by Amanda Scripp Goodness '02, senior human resource manager at ARAMARK.
• "Interview Tips from an HR Professional," presented by Karen MacKenzie '95, human resources supervisor at Caterpillar, Inc.
• "Social Media and Personal Branding," presented by Jacob Plummer '00, vice president of business development at AllScripts.
• "Life After Knox: Real World 101," presented by Sarah Carlin '10, teaching assistant at Doodle Bugs! Children Center in New York; Graham Troyer-Joy '08, freelance software engineer, writer, and comedian; Ashley Steinsdoerfer '05, event specialist at the University of Chicago; and Rosie Worthen '11, community outreach member for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission.
• "Finding a Career That Fits," presented by Brynna Barnhart '03, associate director of enforcement at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Kenji Mori '07, teacher at Namaste Charter School in Chicago, Illinois.

"What I got from (the presentation by Barnhart and Mori) was just to keep your head up and have a positive outlook," said Deveon Rose '15, an economics major from Chicago, Illinois. He is considering a career in market research.

Rose added: "If you are dedicated to what you want to do, (the job you want) can eventually come to you."

The Career iMPACT Summit was organized by the Knox College Bastian Family Center for Career and Pre-Professional Development. It was sponsored by the John D. Carlin Career Development Support Fund.