The Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development has increased its staff in the last four months in order to expand services for students.
Kelli Smith, the director of the Center, said new positions were added to accommodate an increase in student traffic. According to her, attendance at programs has increased 37 percent this year alone, with 21,943 attendees, and they have held over 6,300 individual student appointments along with 931 self-arranged interviews. This increase in student participation, Smith said, made hiring more staff a logical next step.
“We hit a home run with every single hire this year,” Smith said. “We have an incredible team, and everyone is extremely dedicated to our mission of helping students become successful, whether that means deciding on a career, securing an internship or job, or getting into graduate school.”
New staff members include career consultants Mohamed Sesay and Cassie Spencer. Sesay acts as a liaison for other support services on campus and spearheads programs for students of color and LGBTQ students, and Spencer provides walk-in sessions, appointments and professional development programming.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to come and work at the place where I started my career, in terms of my first professional job,” Sesay said. “It’s really worthwhile and fulfilling to work at a place where you love the people and feel like you’re at home.”
Paul Deamer is the new employer and alumni outreach consultant who develops relationships with companies looking to recruit BU students. Alissa Strong is the assistant director of marketing and technology, and is focusing on improving the Center’s website.
Shannon Rinker is the assistant to the student enhancement team, in which she helps students in the Career Development Centralized Internship Program. Colleen McAvoy is the new face at the front desk in her role as career information and office support, where she will be setting up appointments for students with career center counselors and inputting events into B-Engaged and hireBING.
While hiring, Smith said they were looking for people that were able to develop a quick rapport with students and skilled in career assessments. The positions were posted through local and nationwide channels, and then narrowed down to phone and in-person interviews before offers were extended.
Some existing staff members, such as Alexis Avery, have moved their offices to Hillside and Susquehanna communities and Hinman College to provide services to students in residential communities. Avery said her new role as a career consultant in residence has allowed her to educate and provide a platform for lifelong career education beyond just helping students choose a major or applying for their first job.
“I have seen in just a few short weeks how an authentic conversation about a student’s class or how their weekend was can turn into a conversation about their future and their interests, which leads to educating students on how to write their résumé, use LinkedIn or network,” Avery said.
At Friday’s “Get the Scoop” event, over 300 students enjoyed free ice cream while meeting the new hires. Ashley Lau, a senior majoring in industrial and systems engineering, said adding new staff members means more opportunities for students to get their questions answered.
“The expansion for the Fleishman Center shows how important the University values guiding students toward jumpstarting their career paths and helping them grow professionally,” Lau said. “This means more opportunities for students to broaden their network and gain more insight into real world experiences.”