On April 18, the Allan Center for Career and Professional Development hosted the University’s first campus-wide Career Exploration Day. This event was open to both undergraduate and graduate students throughout UHart’s seven schools and colleges. Over 150 students visited 10 sites in the Greater Hartford Area. Students had the chance to shadow current employees, explore the facilities and operations, attend workshops, network with leading professionals, and speak with UHart alums that currently work for the organization. Students were also given a chance to hear from HR representatives on hiring timelines and expectations for internships and full-time employment.
Participating organizations included:
- American Red Cross of Connecticut
- Hartford Steam Boiler
- Virtus Asset Management
- Laz Parking
- Triumph (aerospace)
- Stanley Black & Decker
- NBC 30
- CVS Health (Aetna)
- Travelers
- Pratt Street Business Crawl which included visiting Sentry Commercial, Rundown, Gentle Bull, Emrey’s Specialty Sweets and Sodas, Psychic Readings, Sunberry, and The Caf
Paul Slaboch, director of the aerospace engineering program, volunteered to chaperone the visit to Triumph. He said, “Triumph were great hosts and showed us absolutely everything.” His group of students had the opportunity to talk “to so many people and the students were very engaged and asking questions just about the entire time.” These students saw the ins and outs of the Triumph facilities and spent nearly 4 hours networking with alumni, touring, and learning about internship opportunities. They were engaged every step of the way.
Grace Dowling ‘24, who is majoring in business management and minoring in marketing said, “during my day at CVS Health I learned a lot about the leadership development program. The visit was a great experience and helped me see what I want to do now in my career. I recommend anybody to participate in Career Exploration Day!”
Neville Grey III ‘26, business analytics major, visited LAZ Parking on Career Exploration Day. During his experience, he “became further interested in the company as they showed each section of the office related to my career field.” Neville asked questions and “was able to grasp a better idea of what my life, job, and tasks looked like outside of the classroom. The visit further solidified what I would like to do and achieve later in life.”
This event will become a campus tradition and moved to the fall in academic year 2024-25. Students and faculty should save the date of Oct. 30, 2024, for the next Career Exploration Day!