Going to College to Get an Education…….and a Job.

As much as us second semester seniors don’t want to admit it, our undergraduate education is ending this May and we will need jobs. Luckily, Fordham has an abundance of resources and events to help students get just that.

First, there is our Office of Career Services. Here you can have your resumed revised, practice interview skills, and talk to professionals about career options. Many students use Career Services starting as young as Freshman or Sophomore year.  Career Services also hosts on-campus interviews, networking events, and workshops for students.

Second, Career Services manages an online platform only for Fordham students called CareerLink. The major function of CareerLink is internship/job searching. Employers directly post internship and job openings where students can apply.  Students can search by industry, job function, position type and location. There is where I found, applied and eventually accepted an offer for my first internship as a Sophomore.  

Next, Fordham hosts a number of career fairs each semester at both the Lincoln Center and Rose Hill campuses. At these events, about 100 employers typically come and set up their own table to talk to students.  Here, many students make connections for internships and jobs. There are typically three career fairs each semester, with focuses on Finance and Accounting, Arts and Media, and Non-For-Profit/Service. 

The Gabelli School of Business also has a Personal and Professional Development (PPD) center, where there are multiple career advisors for each major. Students simply can make an appointment with either a PPD advisor or their class dean for industry specific career advice. 

Employed!!

So there are an abundance of resources…but are actually students getting jobs?  I currently work part-time at an advertising agency and plan on accepting a full-time offer for post graduation.  Two of my best friends – both Accounting majors – are set with summer internships at EY and PwC for this summer. A Finance major I’m close with landed a full time analyst job with TD Bank, beginning with an on-campus interview in our Career Services office.  I even know a Rose Hill student who had an internship on the Jimmy Fallon show last semester and is now interning at Comedy Central. And keep in mind, these are just a few examples!

Senior Spotlight: Kevin Kosciuk

Picture for my last home swim meet!

Name: Kevin Kosciuk

Hometown: Cheshire, CT

Major: Public Accounting

Graduation date: May 2015

Why did you choose Fordham? 

As a student in the business school, being close to the City was very important in making my decision. All of the other quality schools I looked at were not very close to any cities. Also, coming from the suburbs, I wanted to try something different by living close to NYC.

What clubs/organizations/internships have you been involved in? What has been your favorite experience? 

At Fordham I am a member of the varsity swim team and also a member in Beta Alpha Psi (Accounting Society). Outside of Fordham I have interned twice. Both of my internship experiences were great. I also look forward to my third internship this summer with Deloitte. My favorite experience has been being a part of the swim team at Fordham. It was a good experience to be a part of a team and having others as teammates but also as friends outside of competition.

What do you think is the best resource available to students on campus? 

Career services is the best resource available to students on campus. Although is it not a job placement center, they can always help you out the best they can and point you in the right direction as far as internships and possible job opportunities. They were the ones that fixed up my resume and suggested I join Beta Alpha Psi and that has really helped me throughout my time here at Fordham.

What is your favorite personal memory at Fordham? 

My favorite personal memory of Fordham is the first time that I stepped out on to Eddie’s the spring semester as a freshman. I thought that it was the coolest thing to see all of Fordham hanging out there.

Where is your favorite place to hang out at Fordham or in NYC?

Arthur Avenue is probably my favorite place to hang out around Fordham. The food and the markets in the area are all delicious and it is nice to live so close to it all.

What are your plans/goals/aspirations for post-graduation? 

Post-graduation, I will be attending graduate school for one year here at Fordham to get my Master’s Degree in Professional Accounting. I then aspire to start working for one of the “Big 4” accounting firms in New York.

The Early Action Deadline is November 1st!

Colorful folders make organizing application material way more fun!

It's seems like just yesterday that I was completing my application for Fordham University...but it was actually 4 years ago! Yikes! Time really does fly by. So for all of you prospective students, relish every moment! For me, applying to college was the most exciting time of my high school career. Organizing and crafting every piece of my application was like putting one foot toward my future.
Now I am jumping toward my future by applying to graduate schools and fellowship opportunities for post-graduation!! This means writing another personal statement, and taking another standardized test, and making sure I get all my letters of recommendation. Fordham has been such a great help in getting me ready for grad school. I have taken practice free GRE tests rights on campus, and my advisors have been continuously critiquing my personal statement. While applications seems tedious now, I know that pursuing further education and fellowship experience will make me the ideal candidate for competitive job positions in the future. I hope to pursue an MA in Public Policy which will, hopefully, allow me to work within legislative government, or just let me leap right into the White House ;) Wish me luck! And good luck to prospective students! May the odds be every in your favor. 

Almost as daunting as the SAT!

Just a few reminders to myself.

THE EARLY ACTION DEADLINE FOR FORDHAM UNIVERSITY IS THIS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1ST! 

Completing your application for early action is a non-binding commitment, but a good way for the admissions staff to get a jump on holistically reviewing your material. It shows your interest in Fordham and allows for an early admission decision. You still have until May 1st, the national decision deadline, to make your final decision.

You can follow Fordham admissions on Instagram: @fordhamadmissions
and on Twitter: @fordham_admis
and don't forget to join Varsity Outreach: apps.varsityoutreach.com/fordham

These platforms will allow you to get the most up-to-date information on Fordham and the admissions process, as well as allow you to ask questions to current students!

A Beautiful Internship Experience

One experience I have had at Fordham that is incredibly unique to going to school here is the access to internships and career opportunities. This past summer, I stayed in New York and interned with Beauty Cares, a domestic violence nonprofit in Chelsea. Beauty Cares seeks to end domestic abuse through early education on the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships. I believe that one of the primary reasons I was able to secure this internship is because of the incredible support and resources I found in Career Services. Because I live in New York year round, I was the only summer intern who was asked to stay on for the school year and not have my internship end after the summer was over. This allows me to greatly increase my skill set and job experience, something that will be highly valuable as I begin to move forward with my career goals.

At an event I helped plan with Beauty Cares' team member Maggie Cely and our CEO and Founder Aryn Quinn

Some of my responsibilities include managing our social media accounts and developing new online marketing and community building strategies. I have taught myself about SEO and analytics - skills that are invaluable in the job market. One of my points of pride from the summer is successfully developing and launching a plan to use Pinterest to drive traffic to our website. It was a difficult task, but one that I realized would be important to increase our visibility and reach.

One of my favorite CelebriTees, from actress Julianne Moore

I also had the privilege of working with our CelebriTee Campaign, where we ask celebrities to decorate wife beaters with an anti-domestic abuse slogans or messages. I recently helped secure the Tees from actor Mel Brooks and designer Tom Ford. One of my favorite aspects of working at a nonprofit is that I don't have a typical day, nor do I do the stereotypical intern things, like making coffee and copies. I have secured event space and sponsorship, negotiating donations from companies that have no idea I am just a college student. At Beauty Cares, I know I'm an integral member of the team, and that is an incredibly empowering feeling, one I'd never expected to receive from an internship!

NYC: Live, Learn, Intern

At colleges across America, an internship is the prize goal of students to bridge the gap between their final two years of school, or even during their final semester. Many students aren't lucky enough to get an internship and are thrown into the "real world" after graduation. This isn't the case at Fordham, in fact it's quite the opposite. With over 93% of students completing an internship, Fordham is a leader in job placement and giving students "real world" experience in and outside of the classroom. After all, it's New York City, why not take advantage of it?

The view from my desk at my internship

This semester, I started my 3rd internship of my college career at a startup called The Vanity Project (TVP). Co-founded by a Fordham Law student, TVP specializes in creating high-quality clothing and merchandise for non-profit organizations, most of which are sponsored by headlining celebrities. Even with my heavy course-load this semester, I'm able to juggle working one full day a week (Wednesday, my day off from class) at our incredible office space in Chelsea, just a 25-30 minute ride on the D express subway train from Fordham's Rose Hill Campus. TVP is a great fit for me because it combines my past experience in retail with my studies of finance here at Gabelli, and it's also a place I feel proud working for because so much of our work goes to supporting nonprofit groups and charities like NoMore, Global Citizen, EQIL, and many more.

Coming into college, I was skeptical of Fordham's career services program, but I've been nothing but amazed with the office ever since I've been here. Going through the college search, all 20 (yes, 20) schools I visited claimed they had the best, but Fordham's landed me two internships in my three semesters here. Career services does everything from helping with résumé building, polishing up LinkedIn profiles, giving mock interviews, career fairs, and everything in between. Landing two internships before my Sophomore year did nothing but shock most of my friends from home, but then again, they don't all have the world's greatest city right at their fingertips.

A collage from the Global Citizen festival in central park.
Global Citizen is one of the many charities TVP makes merchandise for

News Blues

From infectious diseases to terrorist groups and natural disasters, the deathly serious horrors plaguing our world are far from scarce. As college students facing the inevitable fate of shortly becoming “real people,” we can’t help but feel obligated to understand “real world problems.”

And we should! However, thinking about all of the problems around the world often complicates and overwhelms our already overwhelming student lives. For whatever reason students avoid the news, out of fear or disinterest, a lack of understanding now will only worsen the brutal transition of becoming a “real person.”

In media today, the reliance on tangible newspapers and magazines has drastically declined. This is great news for us claiming the status of “not a real person.” Why? Because the emergence of differing news outlets has developed based on two of our favorite hooks: free and convenient.  

I have found the key to keeping up with current events is to find a news outlet that appeals to your interests. If you’re someone who has a strong political affiliation but you don’t have time to watch FoxNews or MSNBC, trying downloading the respective source’s apps. Many online publications offer apps that provide online articles and notifications of major news happenings.

If you are like me, and the news sometimes gets you a little down in the dumps or simply becomes too complicated to follow, try signing up for daily or weekly newsletters. I receive a daily news update from the NY Times with a brief overview of New York, national and global news, as well as an often upbeat interest piece.

For those of you desperately struggling to become a “real person” to the point where you have to ask your friends things like, “Is Ebola a new music festival, I heard its coming to Dallas?”, or “Is ISIS the new international student in your French class?” there is even a news outlet for you. The Skimm or what I refer to as my “sorority girl news letter” breaks down daily current evens into a conversational and comical listing. 

The Skimm allows you to avoid dealing with the rhetoric of a professional journalist, by starting sections off with a commonly asked question you’d hear around the lunch table.

The news beyond the gates can make us want to sink further into the bubble of a college campus. But in reality, this will only leave us majorly shocked and unprepared for the future. As Fordham students, we are called to promote the cura personalis reminding us not only of our duties at students but as “real people” as well.