Tag Archives: CEO

The Wonderful CEO Office

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If there’s one office you want to make sure you get to know early on in your McDaniel career, it’s the Center for Experience and Opportunity, otherwise known as the CEO.  The wonderful people in this office can help you with internship opportunities  part-time jobs, community service opportunities, resume building, mock interviews, and the ever-stressful job hunt.

During my last semester here at McDaniel, I have really taken advantage of this great resource.  As a secondary education minor, it is very helpful to be exposed to as many school districts as possible.  Amanda, one of the amazing counselors in the CEO has set up countless days where school districts come to visit McDaniel.  Some of the districts have sent recruiters to talk to us about the hiring process in their county, while others have sent recruiters to perform screening interviews.  Through these meetings, I have had the opportunity to meet with a recruiter from a large county, which ended up leading to a screening interview.  I have also had the chance to perform two screening interviews on campus, which is very convenient!

Before starting these meetings, I went to see someone else in the CEO about my resume.  Not only did the CEO help me revise and edit my resume in order to make it stand out more, they were ale to help it stay under one page, which was something I was really worried about!  I also learned ways to make each of my classroom experiences sound different, that way a recruiter would not get bored reading my resume. I was also able to ask questions about what information was relevant for a cover letter, which is always helpful, since you don’t want to make it too long.

Whether you visit the CEO your freshman year or senior year, make sure you do!  They’ve got tons of resources that will help every student succeed!

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English majors CAN get jobs!

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On Monday night, I had the chance to go to a networking event organized for the English department and the Center for Experience and Opportunity (CEO) called “What can I do with an English Major?” The event featured a panel of six McDaniel alumni who were English majors when they went to school here.

The six panelists represented a variety of career paths. A couple of the panelists are current or recent graduate students who now write for publications. One panelist is a lawyer. Another is the director of digital communications and social media for McDaniel College (which I think is a pretty awesome job!). The last two panelists have started their own businesses. One has an online PR and marketing business while the other sells historical costumes on Etsy.

Listening to all of these panelists speak about their careers and what lead to their careers was insightful. A number of the panelists were able to beat their own paths and find and create careers that were right for them after not initially starting out with careers they loved. (It’s important for everyone to remember that their first job probably isn’t going to be the job they end up staying with and falling in love with.)

The panelists stressed the importance of internships and other work experience. As one panelist put it, college is the time to take on internships, because it’s a lot more difficult to work without pay after graduation, especially if you don’t live with your parents anymore.

After the panel was over, everyone in attendance had the opportunity to network with the panelists. I was surprised that so many of my peers left without really talking to any of the panelists, but it gave me the opportunity to speak with almost all of them. I found that talking to the younger alumni was just as helpful as talking with the alumni whose careers are most established. Everyone gave me great advice and I was able to pick up a couple of contacts that I plan on getting in touch with.

Going to this presentation really got me thinking about careers. While I’ve been thinking that my ultimate goal is to continue on to grad school right after graduation for something, I may end up deciding to delay grad school and enter the workforce. If that’s what I end up doing, I’ll need some experience to get hired. Fortunately, I have an appointment with the director of the CEO this week. This will allow me to speak to someone “in the know” about what classes and “career moves” I should be taking. Hopefully, she’ll also be able to point me in the direction of some summer internship opportunities relevant to my interests and my goals.

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English major events galore!

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The English department is busy this month, so it’s an exciting time to be an English major!

On Thursday, this year’s issue of McDaniel’s literary magazine, Contrast, was finally unveiled! Despite the fact that the magazine did not show up (the printer did not deliver the shipment in 48 hours as promised), the event was successful. Harrison House was full of students, professors, and even family members of those published. People read their published submissions as a slideshow of the issue’s artwork cycled behind them. There was also food–the brownies were delicious!

Last night, the English department, in conjunction with the Honors Program, hosted a literary masquerade. The whole campus was invited to come dressed as their favorite literary characters. I went as Hermione Granger, since I had a Gryffindor scarf left over from my archetypes and Harry Potter presentation. Some of my favorite costumes of the evening included Edgar Allan Poe, Queequeg (from Moby-Dick), Violet Beauregarde (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), and Nancy Drew.

There are still more fun English events to come!

This Tuesday, students from Dr. Kathy Mangan’s poetry class will be reading their poetry aloud at Carroll Arts Center. I’m hoping to go if I can find time and some friends to make the walk to the arts center with me.

This coming Monday, the English department, along with McDaniel’s Center for Experience and Opportunity (CEO) will host a panel of alumni discussing what they’ve done with their English degrees. I haven’t yet made up my mind as to what I’ll do once I graduate, so I’m looking forward to some insight and networking.

Next Tuesday, April 23, Shakespeare in the Square will take place in Red Square to honor the birthday of William Shakespeare. McDaniel’s improv troupe, Dangersauce, will perform a comedic version of a Shakespearean play, and other students will read or reenact works of Shakespeare of their choice. It should be fun, and I might try to find a sonnet of Shakespeare that I like to read aloud.

Having such an active English department makes me happy to be an English major at McDaniel!

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CEO Open House

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McDaniel College has a wonderful office in the lower level of Decker College Center, McDaniel’s student center, called the Center for Experience and Opportunity, abbreviated to CEO. The CEO is not just a career services office–they also have tons of resources to help students and alumni find internships and volunteer opportunities.

This semester, the CEO has been trying to get students to be more familiar with their office and their services by holding open houses for each class year. The senior class was the first class to get two days of open house devoted just to them, followed by the juniors, who got two days of their own.

The sophomore open house was finally today, so I went to see what I could learn about finding jobs, since I’m trying to find some sort of job or internship to occupy me over the summer.

I’m really glad I went. I’ve actually been pretty anxious about what I’m going to do this summer, but some of the resources the CEO counselors showed me has made the process of finding and applying to jobs and such less intimidating. In addition to giving me a tour of the entire office and showing me through some of McDaniel’s job search databases, they also introduced me to Indeed.com, a job search engine that lets users search for any type of job based on location. Since a lot of McDaniel’s connections are based in Maryland, but I don’t live in Maryland, I think Indeed will be a great resource for me. Over the coming days and weeks, I’ll be sure to take some time to search for writing internships and internships for English majors on the website.

The CEO is a really great resource on campus, and I encourage all McDaniel students to use it! If they don’t already know of a job listing for you, they’ll help you find one that’s right for you based on your interests, abilities, major, and location.

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Sustainable Volunteering

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As today was International Pancake Day, my friends and I headed over to IHOP for a short stack of pancakes. Rather than paying the regular fee, guests are encouraged to make donations to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals after the meal. We entered the building at 10AM, and the walls were already covered with slips of paper that people who had donated money had signed.

Seeing all those signatures made me start thinking about giving back, and how college students can volunteer sustainably. While it’s great to pop into IHOP and donate money, there are a ton of opportunities on campus for regular volunteerism.

Looking for a way to give back to the community regularly? Here are some examples of things you can do on campus:

1. Check out the Center for Experience and Opportunity. They can set you up with local organizations which relate to your interests and career goals. In this sense, volunteering can be not only rewarding emotionally but also a potential line on your resume.

2. Join a Greek organization. Each social fraternity and sorority has a philanthropy element. The fraternity Phi Kappa Sigma, for example, supports the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America. Additionally, our two service fraternities on campus, Alpha Phi Omega and Gamma Sigma Sigma, focus specifically on community service.

3. Consider joining a sports team. Similar to Greek organizations, each team holds service events for athletes. For example, my cross country team volunteered at a half marathon last semester.

4. Clubs also do community service. If your interest is training service dogs, you can join the Puppy Club and even live in their affinity house. If you’re interested in making a global impact, the Advocacy Team focuses on issues such as global hunger and human trafficking. Involvement fairs at the beginning of each year help students get an idea of the broad range of student organizations our campus houses.

Though our schedules are busy with classes and work, there are tons of opportunities to make a local and global impact, whether through one-time events or extended volunteering through an organization. If you take the time, you’ll find a cause and a project that suits your schedule and interests!

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