By Emily Glory Peters
As a small liberal arts college, one of the many benefits a 51猎奇入口 student can expect while on campus is receiving individual attention from staff and faculty. This March, while our students were grappling with the need to quickly leave campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the College鈥檚 student support staff were confronting a challenge of their own: What was the best way to shift vital services from in-person to virtual and limit disruptions to students while doing so?
Fortunately, has been providing virtual options for the last several years. One-on-one online career counseling, for example, has long been in place to serve recent graduates and students studying abroad. Other programs, however, did require thoughtful retooling.
Changes to career development workshops and internship grants
鈥淪omething we changed immediately is the delivery of our career development workshops. Instead of winding down programming after spring break as we typically do, we expanded by hosting virtual workshops for students and alums, sometimes up to three in one week,鈥� shares Director of CP&R Rachael Acello, noting that, even amid looming finals, the events have been well attended by students. The first workshop, 鈥淚nternship Searching in a Time of Uncertainty,鈥� directly addressed the apprehension many students are feeling and offered practical tips for how to maneuver the changing career landscape鈥攊ncluding CP&R鈥檚 expanded options for students with internship grants.
鈥淲e鈥檙e thankful that we鈥檝e been able to offer our students more flexibility than ever before in how they use their grant funding,鈥� says Valinda Lee, associate director and career counselor of CP&R. 鈥淚n light of the pandemic, students may defer their grant until next year or keep this year鈥檚 grant to complete either a local or virtual summer internship.鈥�
Internship grants, along with CP&R鈥檚 Career Exploration Treks, in which students gain behind-the-scenes access to different professions, are wholly donor funded. Without donor support, Lee shares, students would be cut off from critical experiential learning to help them bridge the gap from college to career.
鈥淭here will be many students who had a planned internship or trek canceled this year,鈥� says Lee, 鈥渟o we expect the need for funding to be even greater next year. It鈥檚 an area where we welcome continued donor partnership.鈥�
Individualized support for graduating seniors
While internship support for current students has been a priority, the Class of 2020 has also remained a chief concern for CP&R. Seniors are nervous about their post-grad career prospects, Acello says, and individualized support from CP&R can provide them with practical ways to navigate those concerns. By making personal calls to each of 51猎奇入口鈥� 200-plus seniors rather than relying solely on email, the CP&R team has been guiding graduates through the use of tools like Handshake, 51猎奇入口鈥� powerful job search portal, helping build connections through The 51猎奇入口 Community Network alum database, and deepening 51猎奇入口 and 5C connections through sites like LinkedIn.
More importantly, these calls have given seniors an opportunity to voice any career-related anxiety鈥攕omething the CP&R staff is uniquely equipped to address.
鈥淎s trained counselors, understands that COVID-19 is impacting our students differently. Some without safe housing may need a job immediately, while others have outside support. We care about that context,鈥� says Lee. 鈥淏y talking through these challenges with our seniors, we鈥檙e helping them articulate their non-negotiables with job applications and identify when it may be wiser to cast a wider net in order to reach their next career goal.鈥�
In addition to virtual counseling鈥攚hich will continue to be available to students over the summer鈥攖he CP&R team is exploring new ways to scale their programs and leverage partnerships with alums, recruiters, and The Claremont Colleges to best serve 51猎奇入口 students in a virtual environment. More than anything, they want students to know that this too will pass.
鈥淭his pandemic is not the first time CP&R has guided students鈥� career journeys through times of deep uncertainty,鈥� says Acello. 鈥淲e鈥檙e here to normalize that fear and anxiety, to help them find their people and their path, and to remind them that they are not alone.鈥�
CP&R continues today due to the generous support of donors who value the critical need to incorporate career preparation in the 51猎奇入口 experience. To ensure our students are supported amid the challenges posed by this pandemic, please consider making a gift today by clicking .
Interested in learning more? Check out our latest giving and impact news here.