So you’ve graduated college and you’ve got your degree, now what?
Similar to how some high school graduates feel, college post-grads can still be unsure of what they want to do and/or are unsure of how they can achieve their dream job. Those who attended Quinnipiac University may not have these problems like others do.
This is due to Quinnipiac’s advanced career development center, which utilizes an array of information and resources to be able to prepare students for the work field with real life experiences as well as early introductions to industries and companies.
This is essential to prepare students for important events that most often neglect, like learning how to write a cover letter, learning how to format and style your resume or even how to handle a job interview.
According to a 2023 study with over 1,000 participants from TheForage.com, 47% of students are not confident or only somewhat confident that they are able to find a job for themselves after graduating college. In addition, the study also showed that only 24% of students are using career development offices and that 52%, 45% and 44% respectively are using family members, social media and Youtube as their source for career advancement and readiness advice.
JoinHandshake.com states 25-34 year-old college graduates across the United States hold a job placement of around 86%.
Compared to Quinnipiac’s numbers, the rest of the country is behind.
The career site Zippia has ranked the university as the best in the nation for five consecutive years in terms of employment rate 10 years after graduation, with 96.1%.
Recently, the university gained even more high praise and recognition when The Wall Street Journal released its annual list of the top colleges in the United States. Out of 500 total colleges ranked, Quinnipiac placed at 91, a huge accomplishment for the university, which was not recognized in their 2024 list at all.
Knowing all of this information, what does Quinnipiac actually do that allows it to set itself apart from other competing universities and institutions in the nation? This is where the importance of the career development center comes into play for students on the Quinnipiac campus.
Quinnipiac holds general career advising, as well as specific major-tailored career advising to fall in line with the other popular majors at the university.
There are specific career development offices for the college of arts and sciences, school of business, school of communications, school of computing and engineering, school of education, school of health sciences, school of law as well as the school of nursing. Students with majors that fall under these schools are able to use their specific career office to get more in depth on how to succeed in their field after graduation.
In general, each office is able to provide students with one-on-one counseling. One-on-one is essential in trying to figure out just what a person wants to do. It allows for critiquing of cover letters and resume formats as well as provides the opportunity for mock interviews, which seem to really help students get ready for future scenarios.
“I never really thought much about it until my senior year,” Emma Perkins, a 2024 Quinnipiac graduate with a major in political science and government, said. “Once I did my first mock interview, I felt kind of panicked. It felt weird to be doing an interview for a job while not actually searching for one, but it gave me the experience of what a future interview could look and feel like.”
Perkins utilized the school of law’s career office to help her prepare for her future outside of Quinnipiac, which gave her individualized advice towards her personal aspirations. This kind of personal approach is what sold Perkins to continue using this resource to her benefit.
“It really felt like they actually cared about me and what I wanted to do, not just saying ‘Oh you should do this and that,’” Perkins said. “They gave me dates of events to attend and career fairs that aligned with my interests. They really wanted to see me succeed.”
On top of offering career fairs that anyone in the university can attend, career offices also teach students how to set up their LinkedIn page to appear as professional as possible, giving students an edge over those who may have neglected their profiles. Internship opportunities are also offered, with programs revolving around Los Angeles and Washington D.C. for those at Quinnipiac that are interested in working in those areas. Those internship opportunities last for an entire semester, aimed to acclimate students to the busy real life work environment of those cities.
Career development offices on campus also offer shadowing opportunities where students can enter local real world job sites and shadow an employee for the day, giving them a realistic feel for what goes on in that specific job that they are interested in. This kind of hands on experience is hard to come by for some students who don’t attend Quinnipiac.
“We just don’t have anything like that at my school,” Randy Elfman, a senior business major at Westfield State, said. “I started college thinking I wanted to be in the business field, but now I want to be more in the sports world. If there was someone here I could talk to about making that transition, whether it be classes or outside of school opportunities, I would be on it in a heartbeat.”
For someone like Elfman, who’s school does not have the resources and tools that others have access to at Quinnipiac, it can lead to uncertainty about the future, unwarranted stress and anxiety.
“I’ve already transferred schools before. I started at Western New England [University], but I didn’t feel like they had anything related to sports media there that could help me advance my career while I was still stuck in my core business classes,” Elfman said. “I transferred after my freshman year, but I’m still not really satisfied. I’ve had to rely on connections I’ve made myself or connections my friends have made in order to get my foot in the door where I really want to be.”
Elfman now co-hosts a Boston Celtics podcast called “Celtics Talk Weekly” and creates content for LFG Boston, a sub-group affiliated with LFG Sports, doing man on the street interviews among other things for the Boston-based sports page.
“I watch First Take all the time on ESPN. The host [Molly Qerim] graduated from Quinnipiac,” Elfman said. “Clearly, Quinnipiac sets people up for success. I wish I had access to a radio station or a podcast studio at Westfield so I knew more about how everything works. Now I’m kind of on the fly, still learning everything as I go.”
Of those who are interested in continuing their academic career, whether it be at Quinnipiac or elsewhere, the career development offices on campus aim to help anyone seeking graduate school with things like financial help, assistance with courseload and other helpful tools.
For Perkins as well as Quinnipiac alum Jonathan Banks, who graduated with a masters degree in sports journalism in 2021, this was especially helpful.
“I knew I wasn’t going to continue with law school at Quinnipiac,” Perkins, who is set to graduate from New England Law in Boston in 2027, said. “They helped me find the best place that would fit my wants and needs for what I wanted to do, even if it wasn’t in Hamden.”
“It was a little overwhelming when I first entered grad school,” Banks said. “The people at the career development center really helped me to hone in on what I wanted to do. In my undergrad, they helped me land a position with ESPN in 2019. With the skills I learned and the connections that the career office helped me make, I’m still at ESPN today, and that’s where I always wanted to end up.”
The career development center also does a lot of work with alumni, like Banks. Alumni of Quinnipiac have access to all of the same tools and resources that current students have, only increasing Quinnipiac’s reputation by continuing to treat past students like current ones. Former grads like Banks can also come back to the university to speak to current students about opportunities, connections and routes to take to achieve personal goals.
“I was a member of student media organizations when I was at Quinnipiac,” Banks said. “I’ve come back more than once to speak at these organizations’ meetings. I always give my number and email in hopes that anyone will reach out. I’d love to help anyone get in touch with ESPN or any other connection I have that could be useful.”
With all of these resources and the success that it has allowed for former and current Bobcats, Quinnipiac is able to uphold themselves as a rising contender among institutions in the country.
The university’s data indicated that enrollment for Quinnipiac has increased 50% over the past four years. With its growing reputation as one of the most successful schools in the nation in terms of post-graduation employment, the rest of the country seems to realize that Quinnipiac is one of the top places to be enrolled.
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