National Student Employment Week began Monday, featuring opportunities for students to network and sharpen their resumes, while paying tribute to the university’s 3,300 student employees.
The six-day celebration of student workers, presented by Career Services, will end on April 13 with a cupcake reception in Colonial Crossroads and includes special programs for student employees to capitalize on their experiences.
Workshops include “How to Market Your Student Employment” and “Discover Your Greatest Talent,” as well as a panel with GW alumni titled, “Employers Speak Out: Student Employment and Your Career Path.”
The “Employers Speak Out” panel today, will highlight the connection between student employees and alumni by recruiting former student employees to share their experiences. Panelists include Director of University Initiatives Robert Snyder, B.B.A. ’95; Country Officer for the U.S. State Department Jessica Krowsoski, M.A. ’11; and Matt Meyer, B.B.A., M.S. ’07, associate project manager of OPower. The event is open to students and alumni.
“For many students, student employment is their first step in the career development process and can help build the foundation and shape what comes next,” said Assistant Provost for University Career Services Rachel A. Brown.
Student employees make up 30 percent of GW’s workforce, working in more than 200 university offices. Additionally, Federal Work Study allows students to forge career connections outside of the university community with placements at 40 off-campus organizations.
The National Student Employment week is a part of the Career Services Enhancement Initiative’s efforts to connect students with prospective employers. To that end, the Employer-Educator Forum, also today, will gather more than 200 business, nonprofit and higher education leaders to participate in a dialogue on how educators and employers can work together to fully prepare students for postgraduate careers. This event is available by registration only.
Other efforts to improve student programming and services include the “Knowledge in Action Career Internship Fund” offering grants for necessarily unpaid internships and the Nonprofit and Public Service Career Expo, held on April 3.
Forty students came to the expo and sat down with facilitators across eight areas of expertise, including domestic and volunteer corps, international volunteer corps, social entrepreneurship, public interest advocacy and law, fundraising and philanthropy, social services, sustainability and government services.
“It’s important to give students a chance to make connections with the workforce, and GW has done a great job connecting students to opportunity,” panelist Amiko Matsumoto, M.A. ’01, the former director of GW’s Office of Community Service.
National Student Employment Week will also spotlight the five GW student employee of the year finalists: Kevin Cameron, student coordinator at the university’s administration and Hallmark Programs; Danielle Roomes, site associate at Kid Power Inc.; Scott Challeen, site associate at Kid Power Inc.; Ryan D. Taylor, career ambassador at the Career Center; and Justin Lingenfelter, student library assistant at Eckles Library.
Each day, Career Services will post a video profile of a finalist on the GW Career Center Facebook page with a message from the supervisor who nominated him or her, background information on their contributions and a review of how they represent GW values.
The award will be given to an exemplary student worker at the Excellence in Student Life Awards, to be held on April 25 at Lisner Auditorium.