The Job Network

Published in: MyMarist575.com and Marist College's school newspaper, "The Circle"

After that day in May when students say good bye to all their college friends and come into the realization that they need a job, that “dream job” more times than none isn’t what they originally get.

Networking while in an academic setting allows a student to meet possible employers and find companies that could possibly become a part of their future. Marist creates many opportunities for students to take advantage of, but it is up to that specific student to find them.

On Saturday, Nov. 6, the Grand Hyatt and the New York Women in Communications Foundation will be hosting the 2010 Student Communications Career Conference. The Communication Internship Department is sending up to 10 communication major students, from all different concentrations, who are interested in the program.

“I think it will be a great opportunity to hear from successful women in the industry and find out how they got to where they are,” Dayna McLaughlin, conference attendee, said.

“Explore the possibilities, expand your opportunities,” is the slogan for the Student Communications Career Conference. The companies running the event and the professionals on the different panels are attending in honor of the students. Keynote speaker Mara Schiavocampo, digital correspondent from “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams,” will be the motivational speaker from this year that will model a career that every student in the audience should shadow. Any woman who can follow their dreams and find a passion in what they do took many years in finding their place in their industry.

The communication internship department felt the student community should have the opportunity to branch towards their fields in communications and get a sense of what their employed life will feel like.

“The major points of preparation for the future begin as a student," Internship Coordinator Deborah Porter said. "The job student’s hold is to network while in school. After graduation, you are seen as a job seeker. We encourage all students to go to conferences or any meetings that would encourage them to be proactive about their future.”

The career conference is set up to provide programs for all students that are communication majors. Panel sessions will discuss industries like broadcast and cable journalism, communication entrepreneurship and public relations.

The conference brings together more than 50 communication professionals from magazines like Cosmopolitan, newspapers like The Wall Street Journal and broadcasters like Liz Cho from WABC Eyewitness News. Each session will have a panel of connoisseurs from each profession for the 300 plus students, to ask questions and give information they might have wanted to hear while still in college.

This all-day conference will give communication students from schools all over the East Coast an opportunity to network with particular companies they would like to intern at, in the near future. The New York Women in Communications Foundation wants women in college to see their future before they reach it.

Communication Arts is a club on campus that coordinates all communication concentrations and helps the students find their place in their major. Many students come into college not knowing their major, or know they want to be a communication major, but don’t know their concentration. This club helps the students attend conferences and holds programs that will help students with their decisions. the New York Women in communications Conference is an event the club has been attending for years.

“I went last year and it was a really great experience, but I didn’t take any PR classes yet," Vice President of Communication Arts Danielle Aveta said. "So now knowing more, I feel like I’ll have more questions to ask analysts, and have more of an educated conversation with them.”

Acknowledging the importance in networking is the first step in finding the career everyone wants.

“Networking is extremely important for college students because it helps you get internships and build connections with possible future employers," Communication Arts President Alexis Murphy said. "Through networking you meet so many people and it allows them to see your motivation to jump into your industry of choice.”

The club has also seen the conference as an opportunity that cannot be missed. The club pulled together 19 students who want to be a part of the experience.

“I attended this event last year, and I believe Comm. Arts went the previous year as well," Murphy said. "This is a great event because it covers all the communication concentrations, which is what our club aims to do. You have people from advertising, public relations, journalism, radio, and TV so this conference acts as a great learning tool for younger students who might not know what field they are specifically interested in.”

The conference is open to more than 300 students from multiple colleges and universities. Conferences like these could cost almost $100 per attendee. For almost every major, Marist attempts to find conferences like these that will bring students together and make them more than qualified for their dream jobs after graduation. The Communication Department hopes to truly motivate the students to attend events like these, especially when they have the capability of covering the cost of the conference.

“The conferences are great because they are nonthreatening, you are able to ask questions, know the trends of the industry and discover information about the recruiters," Porter said. "You can receive honest answers and evaluate your career in a nonthreatening environment to know if you want to work in that industry.”