On February 8, liberal arts students will join dozens of LMU alumni for Career Chats, the College’s annual networking event.
Now in its third year, Career Chats is an opportunity for students to meet and learn from successful alumni who have applied their degrees in industries like nonprofit administration, media, real estate and many more. The event is a partnership between LMU Career and Professional Development and the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, and includes an alumni panel discussion and a guided networking mixer. The night will also include an alumni-only dean’s reception.
“For liberal arts students, I think networking is not only important, it’s vital,” said Keira Wight ’16. Wight attended both of the previous Career Chats events as a student, and said she appreciated the career advice from speakers and the opportunity to meet and reconnect with alumni.
“I know that students with liberal arts backgrounds are sought-after because of the flexible, versatile skills we learn,” she said. An English major who worked as editor of the Tower Yearbook, Wight is now a marketing associate at Glendale Arts.
The Career Chats event is part of a College-wide Career Pathways initiative to help liberal arts student connect the dots between the skills they learn in class and the workplaces that need them. Other projects to promote liberal arts career readiness include the Career Pathways Summer Internship program and the College’s popular academic internship courses.
“We really encourage our students to engage in professional discernment,” said BCLA Dean Robbin D. Crabtree. “Our Career Pathways programs help students understand the value of their liberal arts degrees, and apply those skills to possible career tracks.”