Making Career Connections in the Classroom
By Amelia Yeager ‘20
In Professor Simon Garcia’s Computational Chemistry class, students learn the mechanics of how chemical systems interact. Through collaboration with the Career Development Office (CDO), they also learn how to interact with potential mentors through the Kenyon Career Network (KCN).
“Partially, we justify our selection of curriculum based on readiness for a career,” Prof. Garcia said. “So we as academics say that, but we also talk about how students don’t seem to see the connection between their education and their career.” With this in mind, Prof. Garcia worked to bring Lee Schott, Associate Director of Career Development, into his seminar to help students explore potential opportunities for informational interviews. “Professor Garcia proposing this project as part of a course is powerful because it demonstrates to students the fact that their faculty member sees immense value in the Kenyon Career Network and in the potential benefits in conversations with Kenyon alumni,” said Schott. The assignment currently taking place over the course of the fall 2019 semester, aims to reinforce the importance of meaningful connections in a student’s career trajectory. “If we truly think that career readiness is an important part of the education, then I want to make it actually part of the instruction,” Prof. Garcia said.
Prof. Garcia himself is an example of the importance of making connections in STEM careers. “I wanted to do biotech in southern California,” he said, “But that industry picked up and went to northern California. So my plans were slowly becoming impossible because I had a narrow idea of what I could do.” Prof. Garcia, who studied chemistry as an undergraduate at the University of California, San Diego, attended graduate school at the urging of a mentor. “Making connections in the STEM field broadens the imagination,” Prof. Garcia said. “I learned that with a science degree, you can do different kinds of work.”
After graduating with his PhD, Prof. Garcia attended a conference that opened his mind to potential career outcomes in a broader field than laboratory science. “I had made a connection with someone at a conference—I saw his presentation, thought it was really interesting, and talked to him about it,” he said. “Later, he called me and said his company had a position opening up, and that he thought I was well-suited for it.” Meeting that mentor led to a position in scientific market consulting which Prof. Garcia credits as the reason he’s committed to connecting his students with industry professionals. He sees it as an investment in their career potential.
As part of the process of the class assignment, students identified a few possible mentors from more than 2000 KCN members and Schott arranged matches between them. One such pair is Paige Matijasich ’20 and her connection, Ben Kester ’10. “The interview was very insightful and gave me an inside perspective of something I may want to do in the future,” Matijasich said. She is currently in the process of applying to medical schools, and contacted Kester to learn about his career as an orthopedic surgeon. While the assignment may have been unusual, Matijasich “learned a lot about our alumni connections and how helpful they can be.”
Prof. Garcia hopes that, by the end of the semester, each of his Computational Chemistry students will have made a meaningful career connection that may open doors after graduation. “The best resource is [former] students who have already discovered the thousands of possibilities they can pursue with their degree,” he said. “If you know those possibilities, you have a better chance of telling someone, when you’re hustling for the job, that your skills are applicable.”
If you’d like to identify and connect with a mentor, log onto the Kenyon Career Network. Schedule an appointment at the CDO for resources on finding jobs and expanding your professional network.