Sept. 28, 2012
Photo Gallery by Women’s Soccer’s CJ Rhoades
NASHVILLE — Vanderbilt University and Career Athletes recently conducted a Career Forum for 140+ student-athletes on-campus this week. Traveling from locations like San Jose, Calif., Jacksonville, Fla., and Cambridge, Mass., more than 20 organizations set up displays and interacted with student-athletes in speed networking and round table discussions.
Career Athletes Vice President of Collegiate Relations DJ Washington said it was a great event for all parties involved.
“The ultimate goal of this event was to create career awareness for student-athletes about national employers and career opportunities existing across a variety of industries they may have never heard of before, and that mission was well-accomplished,” said Washington. “By including various segments like speed networking and an employer panel, student-athletes were able to expand how they will go about getting a job or internship throughout the entire evening and beyond.”
Life Skills Coordinator Alison Wenzel said the Career Forum gave student-athletes an opportunity to speak face-to-face with employers who want to hire them because of the dedication it takes to be both a student and an athlete at Vanderbilt.
“This was a wonderful opportunity for our student-athletes to gain valuable networking experience and the confidence to interact with potential employers,” said Wenzel.
Many of the nation’s top companies target the student-athlete profile when recruiting to fill positions and partner with Career Athletes to have access to these top talented individuals. Typically, employers are accessible online through the Career Athletes network but were able to have in-person communication at the Vanderbilt Career Forum.
Attendees included: Aerotek, Insight Global, Northwestern Mutual, Jackson Curian Capitol, AFLAC, New York Life, Deloitte, Federated Insurance, Total Quality Logistics, ADP, Ettain Group, Enterprise Holdings, The Fullbridge Program, The Owen School of Management, Peabody Graduate School, Vanderbilt Law School, Stryker, Career Center (CSPD), Teach For America, UPS, IMG World, Mark Block Agency, Ingram Barge Group, Ingram Content Group.
Senior Technical Recruiter for the Ettain Group Bryant Salcedo wished he had resources like the Career Forum when he was a men’s tennis student-athlete at Vanderbilt.
“The Vanderbilt Career Forum for student-athletes was an event I wish I had available during my years at Vanderbilt,” said Salcedo. “It was fun and informational for both employers and student-athletes and can be the catalyst for student-athletes taking the `bull by the horns’ approach with their professional careers.”
The Career Forum events are aimed at providing student-athletes with hands on, in-person interaction with employers. Along with a career message, employer panel, roundtable discussions, speed networking and a career networking event, topics covered include using a unique skill set developed as a collegiate student-athlete to get a job and/or internship.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better networking event for our student-athletes. The feedback was very positive from both athletes and employers,” said Kim Carper, a student-athlete on the Women’s Bowling team. “Vanderbilt’s partnership with Career Athletes has brought so many more career opportunities to our athletic community and our members are taking advantage. I hope to have another event like this on-campus in the future!”
