Chances that while walking along the pathways of Fairfield University, most students have noticed the brand new building across from Alumni Hall. There’s also a good chance that students have never been to the career planning center, located within the Kelley Building.
“We’re here for [the students], they just have to tell us what we can do to help them,” says Cathleen Borgman, the new director of career planning. She utters these words with a hint of plea for students to reach out and utilize the services offered by the career planning department.
Borgman has worked on campus for more than sixteen years before taking the position in the career planning office. Borgman stresses that she “enjoyed [her] previous job, but missed the student interface…Corporate relations involved a lot of lobbying for money for scholarships, arranging award dinners, and setting up corporate sponsorships, and really can’t be compared to [her] duties here in terms of difficulty.”
For those students who have not yet been met with a career planning advisor, the department is there to help students set up their post college lives. Borgman ran the enormously successfully career fair which drew “over 92 different employers. We actually had to turn down some companies because we had so many” boasts Borgman.
“The career fair allows students to make connections and set up networks with various companies for internships and possible jobs after college,” says Borgman.
Borgman is worried by the apathy around campus and truthfully claims that “you have to have your résumé in order, and you have to be out there in order to make connections.” She does however give credit to FUSA for recommending that students visit her office, and has seen a jump in attendance because of FUSA’s initiative.
Her easy-going demeanor makes the daunting task of planning a career much easier and she wishes more students would just try it out.
“Students need to come to us and do the preliminaries for job opportunities because employers aren’t going to go out and find them,” says Borgman.
Many students, including Jen Golia ’10, have taken the initiative and utilized the services that career planning has to offer. Golia noted that “[career planning] gives students an opportunity to further plan their future.”
Unfortunately, not every Fairfield student shares Golia’s motivation.
Timo Wilson ’09 feels that “it’s more geared toward juniors and seniors” and added that he’ll “probably stop in there next year.”
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