Exploring Careers

GAMBIER, Ohio (March 7, 2007) What's it really like when your office calls a meeting? Will the job you're contemplating suit your temperament? How will you balance work and life in a particular career path? Dozens of Kenyon students are spending part of their spring break gaining answers to questions like these, as they explore a career of their choice through Kenyon's externship program. From investment banking to Hollywood set decorating, more than thirty externships are under way this month.

An externship is a three-to-five-day opportunity for students to shadow a professional in a career that interests them. It's a great way to learn how professionals in a particular line of work spend their time, the skills they use, the hours they work, the level of education necessary to enter the field, and how they balance work and family or social life. The program is available to all students, from first-years to seniors.

Extern program coordinator Karen Sheffield matches interested students with volunteer extern sponsors from a database of alumni, parents, and friends of the College. The Career Development Center will also assist students who "self-generate" an externship with a particular company that interests them and is not already sponsoring Kenyon students. That's how Hannah Garfinkle landed her externship with the Smithsonian Institution. "It was easy," says Garfinkle. "I told Karen I was interested in working at the Smithsonian in visitor programming, and she contacted them and set it all up."

Through the bed and breakfast program, the Career Development Center also arranges housing with Kenyon alumni or parents when needed. Students can participate in the externship program during winter and spring breaks.

Related Articles:

Spring 2007 and Winter 2006 Externships
See a sampling of careers Kenyon students are investigating.

Student Journals
Read senior Mara Alperin's first-hand account of her externship atThe Horn Book Magazine, a leading journal in the field of children's and young adult literature.

Read Hannah Garfinkle's reflections of her externship at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Read about sophomore Lisa Harn's experience at National Geographic Traveler.

Read Kelly McGrath's online journal about her externship at Ann Taylor