Bowdoin College
Winter/Spring 2013
Bowdoin Career Advisory Network Newsletter A Note From Tom Walsh ’83 Chairperson, Bowdoin Career Advisory Network (BCAN) Dear Fellow Alums, I write on behalf of the Career Being Part of BCAN Planning staff and the members of the Alumni Council to wish you a happy, healthy, peaceful, If you have not joined BCAN, please consider doing and productive New Year. I also so by clicking on the link on page two of this newsletter want to extend my thanks for the and requesting to join. volunteer efforts of established BCAN members and to welcome While you are joining the BCAN LinkedIn® Group, a bevy of new alumni and parents please join the Bowdoin Alumni Group. to the organization. We are fast approaching a memberIt’s also important that you take the time to update ship of 4,000 engaged, invested alumni and parents on your profile in Bowdoin’s PolarNet alumni database. LinkedIn and PolarNet (the College’s alumni directory). Our openness, enthusiasm, and experience continue to benefit a significant number of current students and young alumni. • BCAN added a number of subgroups to our growing LinkedIn group, ranging from Arts and Entertainment Some highlights from the fall semester: • Career Planning hosted a record 141 events on to Technology and Computer Science. Be sure to visit the LinkedIn page and make sure your profile appears campus this fall, averaging over two sessions per day. in the appropriate subgroups that dovetail with your • More than 85 alumni came to Bowdoin to present expertise and experience. information on career topics to students; these meetings showed an increase of nearly 50% attendance over One area of focus which is always a priority is discovtwo years ago, demonstrating the students’ collective ering internship (and possible full-time employment) hunger for instruction, guidance, and insight regarding opportunities for students both around the United States and abroad. Funding for these internships canthe world of work beyond the gates of the College. • Once again the Boston BizTech Trek took place, bring- not always be assured. To help address this problem the ing 44 students to sessions hosted by alums at five tech- Alumni Council has banded together to underwrite a related businesses in and around Boston/Cambridge; scholarship that funds one otherwise unpaid internthe day concluded with an alumni reception at Hubspot ship. I am grateful to my colleagues on the Council for their spiritual and financial support of BCAN’s efforts. in Cambridge.
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Whenever we ask the Council for support or guidance, the members answer the call.
Recruit at Bowdoin
Read on to learn more about the BowdoinWorks Facebook group, the use of Skype in mock interviews, and the list of alumni who have given of their time to come to campus to meet with students. As always, we hope that if the Bowdoin Career Planning staff asks for your assistance— either at your firm, in your area, or beneath the Pines—you will be as responsive as you can to the request.
Do you have a job or internship opportunity that you would like to make available to Bowdoin students? Or would you like to interview on campus?
With my ongoing thanks for all you do on behalf of Bowdoin students and alumni (young and old), I wish you all the best in 2013 (MMXIII in my Latin classes!). Go U Bears! Tom
Thomas E. Walsh, Jr. ’83
If you would like to post a position or participate in on-campus recruiting, please contact: Sean Sullivan ’08 Employer Relations Coordinator Bowdoin Career Planning 4900 College Station Brunswick, ME 04011 207‐725‐3717 • recruit@bowdoin.edu
Career Planning Significantly Increases Number of Funded Internships
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t’s been a very good semester for Bowdoin students wanting to use their summers to gain career experience. Through the generosity of Bowdoin alumni, foundations, and anonymous donors, Career Planning has been able to significantly increase the number of funded internship grants we will offer this summer. As you know, internships are the way students gain the professional experience required to enter career fields of their choice. Many internships are unpaid, so these grants play an important role allowing students to gain the professional experience they need. • Delta Sigma Arts Fellowship will support an unpaid internship in the arts. Its goal is to allow students to be as closely involved in the creative process as possible. • The Mellam Family Foundation has given Career Planning a grant that will support two students in unpaid internships pursuing experience in career fields of their choice. • The Anwarul Quadir Fellowship has been established to support a student internship each summer for the next five years. The grant will allow the students to be exposed to the culture and business community of Bangladesh. • The Strong/Gault Social Advancement Internship Grant will allow students to take unpaid internships that serve economically underdeveloped areas by providing services and innovative programs that benefit a particular community, region, or society at large. • Bowdoin College Alumni Council Internship Fund has been established to make a grant to a student taking an unpaid internship to gain experience in a career field of their choice. • Robert S. Goodfriend ’57, whose generosity established the Robert S. Goodfriend Summer Internship Fund, has made an additional gift that will allow a total of five students to gain business experience this summer. Thanks to all those who have stepped forward to help Bowdoin students. — Dighton Spooner, Associate Director, Bowdoin Career Planning 2
A Note From Todd Herrmann ’85 Associate Director of Employer Relations, Bowdoin Career Planning
BCAN: Post-Fiscal Cliff Bowdoin alumni often ask Bowdoin Career Planning what specifically they can do to help Bowdoin students and young alumni in their career pursuits. With the fiscal cliff averted and prospects of Bowdoin students in the job/internship market very strong, I would ask that you take a look at three primary ways in which your experience and connection can be very helpful to the Bowdoin Career Advisory Network. 1. Connect with BCAN members for networking discussions – Students and recent alumni are encouraged to reach out to BCAN members for advice and insights on companies, career fields, grad schools, or jobs and internship opportunities. Your help in the exploration process is directly linked to student success when navigating the recruiting process. This might mean an email exchange, a phone call, a cup of coffee or a job shadow. Any help you offer is welcome and greatly appreciated 2. Post a job or internship for current Bowdoin students – Career Planning is always looking for jobs and internships with alumni connections for Bowdoin candidates. You can send position descriptions by email to recruit@bowdoin.edu for us to post, and we will do the work from that point. We would always like to know to whom we should send application materials, the deadline to apply, and any networking contacts that might be important for students to converse with before applying. 3. Join a BCAN Subgroup – In September, the BCAN group introduced ten subgroups on LinkedIn for members to join that will more closely align them with other members with similar job skills. At this moment the following groups are available: Arts and Entertainment; Communications; Consulting; Education; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Services and Ecology; Finance; Government and Public Policy; International; Law; Nonprofit; Technology and Computer Science Members of the current BCAN group are welcome to join the subgroups at any time. We encourage you to join as many groups as you would like and to begin posting information or questions that will facilitate an energetic exchange of ideas and information. To find the groups, please go to http://www.linkedin.com and search ‘Groups’ for Bowdoin Advisory. Thank you for your contribution to the continued success of Bowdoin candidates in the workplace. Not a day passes by at Bowdoin Career Planning that we are not grateful for the generosity of our alumni and parents. From Brunswick,
Todd R. Herrmann ’85
Associate Director of Employer Relations Bowdoin Career Planning 207-725-3717 • herrmann@bowdoin.edu
Links LinkedIn® BCAN Group http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1189177 LinkedIn® Bowdoin Alumni Group http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3194 PolarNet http://polarnet.bowdoin.edu/NetCommunity The contact information in the BCAN LinkedIn group is for BCAN purposes only, and does not replace the PolarNet or Registrar’s Office database as the primary record for contact information for Bowdoin alumni. Please be sure to inform the Registrar’s Office of any contact information updates.
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“Ummm, uhhh...I don’t know….” Mock Skype Interview to the Rescue!
Join Us on Facebook: BowdoinWorks Bowdoin Students have been delighted to see where you work and get a bit more insight into professional life, through our What I Wear To Work project on our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/Bowdoin Works)
Alum submitted photos showcasing a typical day’s attire.
Remember your first job interview? Maybe you showed up eager and excited, dressed in a new outfit, ready to get your first job. Probably you exchanged pleasantries with the interviewer, and then were asked, “Tell me about yourself…..” Oops, didn’t practice that one! “Ummm…..you mean, like, how many brothers and sisters do I have? Or where was I born? What do you want to know?” In fact, you hadn’t anticipated any of the questions in advance, and certainly hadn’t articulated any of the answers. Chances are, you walked out of there wishing you’d never come to the interview in the first place.
More than 40 alumni/ ae have sent photos of themselves at work, along with their job titles and city, to help students understand the dress codes and workplace cultures in different industries, cities, and professions.
That’s where practice could have made a big difference. As a Bowdoin alum and workforce professional, you are a great resource for providing practice interviews for current Bowdoin students. The next time a student contacts you to network or seek advice, take it one step further and offer to set a time to conduct a mock interview via Skype. The practice opportunity, along with your valuable feedback, could make all the difference in the student’s next interview.
To view our What I Wear to Work photo album on Facebook: http://tiny.cc/ c6xlqw
If you’d like more support or guidance for conducting Mock Skype Interviews, please refer to Bowdoin Career Planning’s online interviewing guidelines (http://careerplanning.bowdoin.edu/interviewing/), or contact us at cpc@bowdoin.edu.
We would love to have to you join the fun and show off your work attire. Submit our What I Wear to Work form (http://tiny. cc/2aylqw) and we’ll add you to the album.
— Meg Springer, Assistant Director, Bowdoin Career Planning
The Color for the New Year is Green
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nd, we’re not just talking about the fact that the Pantone color for 2013 is Emerald! This fall, Bowdoin Career Planning, Environmental Studies, Residential Life, Sustainable Bowdoin, and two environmentally-focused student groups - the Green Bowdoin Alliance and Green Global Initiatives, colloborated to host five alumni/ae from the Class of 2010 here on campus for a talk titled Launch Your Green Career. On October 22nd, a Monday evening, Abriel Ferreira, Brooks Winner, Simon Ou, Drew Trafton, and Thai Ha-Ngoc left work early to join us for a dinner reception and evening talk at Quinby House. Each of the recent grads shared tales of their job paths from graduation to the present, and offered their advice to 36 students on how to find work in the fields of renewable energy, sustainability, environmental consulting, the environmental nonprofit sector, and sustainable community development. You can read about the event on the Bowdoin Daily Sun: http://www.bowdoindailysun.com/2012/10/five-recent-grads-share-their-insightson-finding-dream-green-jobs/ Are you interested in giving a talk here on campus and meeting with students? Just let us know! Students are eager to hear your advice on how to land a great job in YOUR field. — Sarah Paul, Assistant Director, Bowdoin Career Planning 4
Visiting Alumni, Fall 2012 Cynthia McFadden ’78, ABC’s Nightline Michaela Calnan ’11, Analysis Group Steve Carpenter ’03, Analysis Group Emma Reilly ’09, Analysis Group Ben Stein ’12, Analysis Group Graham Rose ’95, Bain & Company Jason Slocum ’05, Bain & Company Morgan Chessman ’12, Base36, Inc Cynthia Needham ’99, Boston Globe J.P. Hernandez ’04, Bridgewater Associates Tim Farley ’12, Cambridge Associates Allison Thomas ’10, Christie’s Joanna Ostrem ’03, Christie’s Jordan Fliegel ’08, CoachUp.com Chris Speh ’67, Common Good Ventures Abriel Ferreira ’10, Competitive Energy Services Chris Anderson ’12, Cowen and Company Tim Anderson ’11, Cowen and Company Karen Reni ’01, Cowen and Company Keely Boyer ’05, Deloitte Consulting Keel Dietz ’12, Deloitte Consulting Will Jacob ’10, Deloitte Consulting Aurora Kurland ’09, Deloitte Consulting Duncan Masland ’11, Deloitte Consulting Dave Nakashian ’00, Deloitte Consulting Carolyn O’Boyle ’00, Deloitte Consulting Dan Peckham ’12, Deloitte Consulting Charlotte Ryan ’12, Deloitte Consulting Katy Shaw ’11, Deloitte Consulting Greg Tabak ’11, Deloitte Consulting Eric Thompson ’11, Deloitte Consulting Stephen Wagner ’12, Deloitte Consulting Timothy Welch ’12, Deloitte Consulting Timothy Chu ’08, Digitas George Schlesinger ’07, Digitas Kevin Petrie ’95, EMC Corporation Charlie Meyer ’11, Epic Tim Watson ’08, EXPLO Exploration School Peter Adams ’95, Eze Castle Software Jennifer Flynn ’96, Fenway Sports Management Jared Porter ’03, Fenway Sports Management Drew Trafton ’10, GDS Associates, Inc Tim Richards ’79, General Electric, Energy Policy Todd Marshman ’86, Goldman Sachs Bob Paglione ’90, Goldman Sachs Kira Chappelle ’07, Google Tawanda Pasirayi ’12, Guggenheim Partners Kevin Raymond ’11, Guggenheim Partners Thai Ha-Ngoc ’10, Henry P. Kendall Foundation Hartley Brody ’12, Hubspot JB Chun ’11, IBM Consulting
Simon Ou ’10, Institute for Sustainable Communities Brooks Winner ’10, Island Institute Alison Banks ’03, Kaiser Associates Erik Morrison ’06, Kantar Retail Chelsea Albright ’12, LEGO Danny Lowinger ’12, LEGO Michael Moynihan ’89, LEGO Elissa Williams ’01, M&T Bank Ian Yaffe ’09, Mano en Mano Robby Bitting ’11, MassChallenge Johnathan Jodka ’83, Maverick Capital Adam Matula ’12, Mercer Ted Maloney ’00, MFS Investment Management Andrew Quatrale ’10, MFS Investment Management Jon Fouts ’88, Morgan Stanley RJ Shea ’12, Morgan Stanley TJ Sheehy ’96, Morgan Stanley Caroline McNamara ’12, Norbridge, Inc Dave Brown ’79, Oak Hill Venture Partners Sarah Marston ’10, Overland Summers Beatrice Shen ’09, Pace Gallery Sean Marsh ’95, Point Judith Capital Andy Cashman ’03, Preti Flaherty Jack Hilzinger ’12, PricewaterhouseCoopers Ryan Ravenscroft ’99, Silicon Valley Bank Dave Rodriguez ’94, Silicon Valley Bank Ingrid Oelschlager ’11, Suffolk Construction Andrew Won ’12, Suffolk Construction Walt Shepard ’11, The Beacon Group David Melville ’86, The Bowdoin Group Ashley Fischer ’09, Uncommon Schools Sarah Lipinoga Gallo ’03, University of Pennsylvania PhD Candidate Alexandra Smith Keefe ’06, University of Utah MD/PhD Candidate Kevin Kowalko ’12, Unum Mike Krohn ’09, Unum Hannah Levy ’12, Unum Laura Peterson ’12, Unum Barrett Takesian ’12, Unum Robert Donovan ’85, Wells Fargo Investors Lucy Orloski ’06, Yottaa/MyEnergy Special thank you to alumni who conducted mock interviews this past fall semester: Anthony Belmont, MD ’60 Don Doele ’59 Kacy Hintze ’98 Steve Loebs ’60 David Treadwell ’64 Amy Woodhouse ’80 5
Alumni everywhere want to help!
# of BCAN Members
UNDER 20
20 TO 99
THE WO IN
D A RE RL
W HE R E
100 +
Bowdoin Alumni?
careerplanning.bowdoin.edu cpc@bowdoin.edu • 207 725 3717
The Bowdoin Career Advisory Network is full of alums who have volunteered to assist students in their career journey. The heat map above shows that Polar Bears all over the US have joined. And the list of participating alums grows daily!
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facebook.com/bowdoinworks twitter.com/bowdoinworks