Liberal Arts Career Week helps students develop professionally

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Liberal Arts Career Enrichment Network focuses year-round on students’ career and professional development opportunities. One of its largest projects, Liberal Arts Career Week, took place Jan. 27-31, and achieved a high level of success in the event’s fourth year.

Liberal Arts Career Week provided students with 15 workshops, panels and sessions geared toward liberal arts majors. Network staff hosted some of the workshops, while additional events included speakers from well-known employers such as Deloitte, GEICO and Kohl’s. In addition to events focused on graduate school, law school and the hiring process, there were opportunities for students not yet considering full-time employment options such as sessions on internships and global experiences and workshops on interviewing and resumes.

"Each Liberal Arts Career Week 2020 event fulfilled a unique role in creating opportunities for students to make connections and progress toward their career goals,” said Hope Bodenschatz, a network assistant in the Career Enrichment Network majoring in political science, economics and geography. “It was wonderful to see liberal arts students eagerly share their skills and passions with presenters, alumni, employers and each other throughout the week."

Some of the highlights of the week were sessions on marketing a liberal arts degree to employers, developing your brand on LinkedIn, and a networking session run by Happy Valley Improv, which challenged students to step outside their comfort zones. Penn State liberal arts alumni also made appearances throughout the week at networking sessions and as recruiters.

Habib Abraham, a recruitment manager at Teach for America, praised the networking events saying, “It was a great pleasure to meet Penn State students this week. We value students who take the time to attend the Liberal Arts Career Week events because we can put a face to the resume, and it shows us that students are intentional about their post-graduate journey. Each year, we meet talented liberal arts students at the Career Week events who lead in the classroom afterward.”

Megan Eckart, a regional college recruiter in human resources at GEICO, said, “Liberal Arts Career Week was super successful. It gave employers a chance to have a more one-on-one connection with students and a more personal approach to recruiting. I truly enjoyed Career Week and the opportunities I had to connect with students.”

In everything from a session on peer-to-peer career advice to conversations with big-name companies, students demonstrated the value of a Penn State education and made an impression on the recruiters.

Avery LeVan, a second-year student majoring in history and political science, found the week to be very worthwhile. 

“Career Week is a wonderful program that gives students the opportunity to build their networking skills, connect with potential employers, learn how to market themselves, and plan for the future,” said LeVan. “If you have the chance to go to any of these events in the future, they are definitely worth attending — especially if you are currently searching for a job or internship.”

The opportunities do not stop with Liberal Arts Career Week — the Career Enrichment Network has a variety of opportunities scheduled throughout the rest of the spring semester. Liberal arts students should check their Nittany Lion Careers account often for new events and internship postings. The Liberal Arts Career Enrichment Network Lunch and Learn series kicks off Thursday, Feb. 6, and applications for the Learn and Network in D.C. event are currently being accepted through Feb. 21. Liberal arts students are always welcome to share their suggestions on programming with the Career Enrichment Network, including collaboration with liberal arts student organizations. For more information, contact the Career Enrichment Network at lanetwork@psu.edu.