By Adam Fivenson, MSFS’14
Throughout the school year, the Georgetown School of Foreign Service Graduate Career Development Center (GCDC) hosts events to help graduate students in the school’s eight Master’s programs—including MSFS—find internships and jobs, but one month out of the year is special. January, or JumpStart January, features a series of panels, presentations, workshops, and discussions designed to help students refocus their career search after Winter Break.
“Just because the majority of the recruiting happens in the fall doesn’t mean it’s the only time to work on the job search,” says Laura Venos, a Career Adviser at the GCDC. “We really want to make sure that students, especially those who are still looking for internships and jobs, refocus on what they could be doing during the final semester of the year to get that internship or job they want.”
Penny Gage (MSFS ’14) says she’s looking forward to the “Careers in Energy” and “Leveraging your Online Presence” sessions. “I’m the VP of SFS for the Georgetown Energy and Clean Technology Club, and I’m very interested in careers in energy. The Online Presence session should be useful because I’m not on LinkedIn yet and I’d like to learn how to use it well.”
This year, JumpStart January kicked off with a student-alumni networking reception, which Hossam Alkhafaji (MSFS ’14), says was his favorite session: “It was a great chance to meet alums from other programs.”
“We really want to connect students with alums who are looking to employ,” adds Venos. “The reason we’ve put on so many panel events with alums is to encourage students to consider all the different options out there, and also so they can meet and form relationships with School of Foreign Service alums.”
MSFS students are among the GCDC’s most consistent clients. “I’m a GCDC ‘regular,’” says Alkhafaji. “They were helpful in re-writing my CV to make it more marketable and reflect my skills and enthusiasm. Then they helped me identify and apply for internships. My problem now is having to choose just one!”
The Graduate Career Development Center serves all eight graduate programs in the School of Foreign Service and the Department of Government, working with both students and alums. “We provide one-on-one advising sessions to help students assess career-related skills, interests, and values,” says Venos. “We also provide skills workshops to teach job search techniques, and many other career-related services.”
Like Alkhafaji, Gage has nothing but good things to say about the GCDC’s services: “They’ve seen a lot of students and know how to help direct your search. There is someone in DC or the country or even the world looking for you and your exact skillset; the GCDC can help you market yourself to that someone.”