Alumni share career experiences in digital event series
Business Career Services brings students online Career Conversations with recent graduates
Since fall 2018, KU business students have learned about career paths through Business Career Services’ (BCS) Exploring Careers series. The events were typically held as roundtable discussions — a format that was no longer possible this year. So the BCS team adapted.
“With COVID-19, we wanted to find a way to transition our existing series to a virtual format,” explained BCS director Jennifer Jordan. “The silver lining is that we’ve been able to engage alumni throughout the country in our new virtual webinar series.”
At least once a week, Business Jayhawks can watch live as a recent business graduate talks about their role, as well as their organization’s training, culture and recruiting process. Alumni also share aspects of their own experiences at KU that best prepared them for their current careers and advice for students who want similar careers.
The featured speakers represent a diverse range of careers, from corporate finance and consulting to nonprofit and government sectors. Sessions are also recorded and made accessible to students via Jayhawk Ready, so they can revisit or explore the conversations on their own schedule.
“Our hope is that by participating in Exploring Careers discussions, students will gain clarity about their career pursuits and to develop a plan for proactively pursing their goals,” Jordan said. “By featuring recent graduates of KU, we’re able to engage very relatable and encouraging perspectives in the career management process, while also highlighting the value of our alumni networks. We don’t want students to wait until the job search is right in front of them to start considering how they hope to apply their degree in the workforce. Exploring Careers, in both the original and virtual formats, is designed to help students understand what they are working toward during their time at KU.”
Check out the full list of upcoming speakers, and register to attend:
Aug. 31: Derrick Williams, Morgan Stanley (Wealth Management)
Sept. 1: Todd Dorsey, Lockton (Sales)
Sept. 2: Shanah Gaskill, Twitter (Human Resources)
Sept. 3: Amanda Rivera, EY (Public Accounting: Risk/Advisory)
Sept. 9: Mya Orr, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital (Non-Profit Management)
Sept. 14: Kirsten Rasmussen, Lockton (Risk Management, Account Management, Insurance Broker)
Sept. 15: Kyla Cody, Bank of the West (Commercial Banking)
Sept. 22: Nate Danner, e4 Services, IT Healthcare Sales
Sept. 24: Maren Hansen, Five Elms (Private Equity, Asset Management)
Sept. 28: Melanie Maneth, Innovative Livestock Services (Corporate/Internal Accounting)
Sept. 29: Maggie Zehren, Black & Veatch (Human Resources)
Sept. 30: Andie Mitchell, KPMG (Public Accounting: Tax)
Oct. 1: Brian Collins, Spalding (Brand/Product Management )
Oct. 6: Kate Favrow, Associated Wholesale Grocers (Corporate/Brand Marketing)
Oct. 7: Evan Shufflebarger, Heartland Company (M&A, Corporate Development)
Oct. 12: MC Landolt, AT&T (Sales)
Oct. 13: Katie Gerard, Deloitte Consulting (Consulting)
Oct. 14: Joshua Kaplan, US Department of Commerce (Economic Policy)
Oct. 15: Michael Luchen, Crema (IS)
Oct. 20: Meredith Harrington, Baird (Investment Banking)
Oct. 21: Alex Ogan, Cerner (Marketing — Analytics, Research)
Oct. 26: Scott Brooks, The Hartford (Underwriting)
Oct. 27: Lizzie Cox, Keen Footwear (Supply Chain/Operations/Procurement)
Oct. 28: Kate Neuenschwander, Grant Thornton (Audit)
