Maryville College Career Center closes out successful academic year with ‘Connect the Scots’ mixer for businesses, students
April 24, 2024
The end of the 2023-24 academic year is in sight, and for some Maryville College students, it’s the end of an era … but thanks to the efforts of the MC Career Center, it’ll be the start of a new one for many of them.
On Thursday, April 18, the Career Center hosted a final opportunity for graduating Scots and undergraduates to explore their post-MC options. Called “Connect the Scots,” the casual networking meet-and-greet took place in Isaac’s Café and allowed 91 students to interact with 35 organizations and graduate programs looking to fill their ranks with Maryville College students who have worked diligently alongside their academic studies to prepare for jobs, internships and graduate school.
“I feel like Maryville College is really career-focused, because I’ve taken a lot of classes through Maryville College Works that have well prepared me for exploring what my next steps will be,” said Calista Jones ’24, an English major who will graduate with other members of her class on May 4. “I feel like a lot of the connections you make at events like this are good gateways to jobs, especially when so many of these representatives attended Maryville College themselves. It’s really special to connect with people who have a strong passion for this school, and it’s a great way to set up opportunities in the future.”
Organized as more of a business casual networking event, “Connect the Scots” served as an informal counterbalance to the center’s Career and Internship Fair, held each fall in the Clayton Center for the Arts. At the latter, participating organizations set up booths and tables to distribute information; at “Connect the Scots,” students were able to mingle with representatives in a more relaxed setting.
“The Career Center understands the importance of networking,” said Dr. Niklas Trzaskowski, director of the center. “Many folks find their career opportunities through networking rather than submitting applications online. We wanted to create an opportunity for students to practice attending a mixer in a familiar environment to practice their networking skills.
“Last March, we hosted our first ‘Connect the Scots’ event. We took some of the feedback we received from organizations who attended the 2023 edition to improve the event in 2024. Our partners are great and very understanding of what we hope to accomplish on the career development side with our students. We’re grateful for the way they adjust and provide our students with an opportunity to learn about their organizations in an environment that may be different from a traditional career fair.”
For some participants, the reputation of MC students precedes their involvement in outside-the-box events like “Connect the Scots.” Lauren Hounshell, a campus recruiter for Axle Logistics, said she looks forward to any Maryville College-related event at which to give potential recruits a glimpse of the possibilities at her company.
“I think Maryville College provides a top-tier education and equips its students with all the skills necessary to go out into the workforce and be successful, so we’re really looking forward to connecting with more students and growing our partnership here,” she said.
“We’ve worked with a lot of Maryville College students and graduates, and we know they’re amazing,” added Kristi Nguyen, a senior recruiting and training coordinator with 21st Mortgage Corp. “At something like this, they’re able to connect with potential employers in a more casual setting, and I’ve been able to reconnect with many students I’ve met before and see how far they’ve come. From my understanding, many of the students attending today weren’t required to do so, which means the extra step they took to come on their own is a trait that’s really important to our company.”
And the Career Center, she added, is an ideal point of contact between area companies and graduate programs and a well of untapped talent ready to join the workforce. For Trzaskowski and his team — which includes Career and Internship Coach Leah Hadder and Office and Marketing Manager Alaina Tipton ’17 — capping an academic year with a successful “Connect the Scots” is a feather in a cap that’s already festooned with many of them.
“Through appointments with our office, all our career events and classroom visits, the Career Center team has likely interacted with a large percentage of students enrolled at the College,” he said. “I am most proud of my team. Through our events (fairs, information sessions, tablings in Pearsons Hall, ‘Connect the Scots,’ etc.), we have brought close to 100 organizations to our beautiful campus this academic year.
“Leah, in her first academic year as career and internship coach, has completed more than 120 individual appointments with students and graduates and taught countless students in Maryville College Works courses. We welcomed Alaina to our team, and she has done a great job strengthening our social media presence and connecting students to our services and events. We were able to collaborate with several faculty members throughout the semester, most notably Drs. Gabie Kerr, Angela Sebby and Rachel Ponder. Above all, I am just so grateful for all the support that we have received from our campus community throughout this academic year.”
It hasn’t gone unnoticed: Senior Design major Austin Zettle ’24, who attended last week’s mixer, has landed an internship at the Walt Disney Company, a dream post that was likely made possible, he said, by the assistance provided by the Career Center.
“They’ve done so much, from helping out with my LinkedIn profile to checking over my resume to making sure I had professional-looking headshots,” Zettle said. “Anything you need to be successful, the Career Center is here to help with that. Maryville College has become a big family to me, and I love how everyone works to make sure you succeed. Any problem, any issue, they’ll help you, because that’s all they want.”
And the center’s work doesn’t end when the academic year does: The MC Career Center is open during the summer, Trzaskowski said, which can be an ideal time for students to work on professional development outside the rigors of classes, projects, finals and lectures.
The center’s availability, he added, isn’t just limited to students, either: Employers looking to recruit from a student body well-prepared for the workforce are encouraged to reach out as well.
“Are you still searching for full-time talent? Are you planning to hire interns in the fall? Curious how your organization can visit our campus? Contact me and let’s discuss how the Career Center could support you,” Trzaskowski said. “We are super excited about the upcoming academic year, when we will debut some new events and fine-tune some of our existing ones. We hope to bring even more organizations to campus.”