By: Lydia Rogers ~Staff Writer~
It is Xavier’s first year in the Big East, and the Career Development Center plans to take advantage of this opportunity to promote career planning.
On March 14, the Big East Career Consortium will be hosting the Big East Career Networking Event at the Madison Square Garden Bar and Grill in New York City during the Big East men’s basketball tournament.
While the basketball tournament highlights the importance of the new conference to the schools’ athletic departments, this event will be an opportunity for non-athlete students to benefit from the new Big East affiliation.
The Big East Career Networking Event brings together the career centers of the 10 universities that make up the newly-reorganized Big East athletic conference: Butler, Creighton, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Villanova and Xavier.
The event is organized by the Big East Career Consortium, which is an active group that regularly networks and shares best practices through monthly conference calls and a face-to-face meeting in the summer.
“The Consortium also strives to advance the career success of all our students by offering collaborative events including the Virtual Career Fair in November,” Career Development Director Jen Franchak said.
At the networking event, students and alumni will have the opportunity to meet up to 30 employers from a variety of industries and career fields in one location.
Students will benefit from the chance to speak with employers about skills and experiences they would bring to the workplace, learn more about available positions and how to apply and practice important career networking skills that are vital to a successful ob or internship search.
“In addition, the event allows students of all Big East schools to benefit from employer contacts outside of our individual campus contacts since all Big East career centers invited their employers to participate,” Franchak said.“That being the case, because the event is held in New York City, it tends to draw employers from this area so it will be especially beneficial for students interested in employment in this region of the country.”
The Big East Career Networking Event will expand Xavier students’ opportunities to connect with organizations that do not currently recruit on campus or in the region.
“Job and internship searching is much more than events that happen on campus as many industries don’t recruit on college campuses,” Franchak said.