The Career Center’s Scholars Program is an experiential learning opportunity for students to explore career options, make connections with alumni, and hone their networking and professional skills. Students from all majors are introduced to a specific industry area by incorporating skills acquired through the career readiness component (weekly assignments leading up to the site visits and a networking workshop led by Lee Caraher ’86) prior to attending an on-campus symposium, exploratory site visits to a variety of companies/organizations, and an alumni networking event during spring break. This year, students explored careers in public policy and sustainability.
The Careers in Sustainability Program provided an opportunity for nine students from all class years to learn about careers in sustainability – in both non-profit and corporate sectors. Students traveled to the Twin Cities during spring break and visited the following sites: Cargill (Kirk Weidner ’85), City of Minneapolis (Miles Mercer ’98), Fresh Energy (Will Nissen ’05), Jeff Paulson Law (Jeff Paulson ’78), the Wedge Co-op (Josh Resnik ’92), and toured the newly renovated State Capitol. In addition to actively engaging in Q and A discussions with alum at each site, students capped off their site visits by attending an alumni networking event at an establishment founded by two Carls; this final event provided the students with the opportunity to establish connections with alumni and learn more about sustainability and life- after-Carleton.
The Careers in Public Policy Scholars Program provided an opportunity for 13 students to learn about careers in public policy. Students traveled to Washington D.C. and connected with alumni and friends of Carleton at the following sites: U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Justice, the Urban Institute, Google, the Federal Transit Administration, the CIA, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Each site visit provided the students with an opportunity to learn more about the organization and possible career paths. Students further honed their networking skills at an alumni networking event hosted by Don Frost ’83 and Carolyn Ferrari ‘83 at their residence.