Alumni help undergraduate students get ready for the job market

February 15, 2007--Which water glass is yours? How do you butter a dinner roll? Where do you put your napkin when you leave the table?

These aren’t the kind of questions you’ll find on your typical test at Tufts, but they might be every bit as important to finding work after graduation. At least that’s what several dozen Tufts seniors were told as they sat down for a four-course business lunch etiquette session.

Learning the fine art of “professional protocol” was only one of several events for Senior Class Career Day: Life After Tufts, on Feb. 2.  Sponsored by the Tufts University Alumni Association, Tufts Career Services, the Senior Class Council, and the student Programming Board, the event also featured a workshop on employer benefits, led by Michael Ward, A90, an executive vice president at Eastern Benefits Group, and another on how to find professional satisfaction, presented by author and career coach J.T. O’Donnell, J90, founder of Blue Kilowatt and CAREERJUICE.

“At Tufts we get the education we need for the job, but we don’t necessarily learn how to get the job,” says Lisa Berger, A07, Senior Class president, who helped organize the event along with Class Council, Vice President, Amanda Forsythe, A07. She adds: “It’s scary we already need this now. I’m not ready to leave!”

Jonathan Burton, associate director for Student & Young Alumni Programs for the Tufts University Alumni Association, said he’s pleased to see the response from students and alumni.

“Career day has grown to become one of the most successful and comprehensive single-day program partnerships for seniors with Career Services,” he said.

Students also got a leg up on finding the right job at “Backpack to Briefcase,” a student and alumni networking reception; nearly 50 alumni returned to help students practice the art of networking in an interactive speed networking session.

April Baskin, who is looking for a job in the social services, ended up chatting with Edwin Johnson, A04, program associate at the Cambridge-based nonprofit Summerbridge, who encouraged her to apply to some new job openings. Baskin says her successful lead was no accident. “I came here specifically because I knew it was a rare opportunity to meet people,” she says, brandishing a stack of business cards. “I was ready.”