Wizards and muggles of Boston College are invited to the BC Career Center’s Harry Potter-themed event to discuss the next steps in their search for a career.
The event, which is a collaboration between the Career Center and the Office of Residential Life, will be held Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the Walsh eighth floor lounge. The event is for sophomores, but other students who want to explore the career process are welcome to attend. Hogwarts House cupcakes and butterbeer will be available to attendees.
At the event, students will be sorted into “houses” based on where they are in their career process. Each group will then have a discussion about the next steps students should take in finding a successful career.
“Career is a daunting word, but we want to help students understand what it means and how to work through it,” said Thomas Harwell, assistant director of the career exploration team.
Harwell, Jenna Sattar, assistant director of the sophomore area, Peter Hausladen, the resident director of Walsh Hall, and Ryan Shannon, the graduate resident assistant of Walsh Hall, came up with the idea this fall. The four wanted to hold a program for sophomores in October around Halloween. Harwell and Shannon are both Harry Potter fans, and they decided the event would be Harry Potter-themed.
“We wanted to do something that would be fun, exciting, and get people talking about careers in a unique way,” Harwell said.
The Career Center holds a number of events to guide students during their career searches. It hosted Launch, a conference for juniors and seniors, on Oct. 14. The conference allowed students to explore their unique talents and values, understand hiring timelines in their fields of interest, and learn job-searching skills from young alumni and recruiters.
The Center will host Endeavor, a three-day program for sophomore liberal arts majors, in January. The program will feature discussions about pursuing a career with a liberal arts major, and students will take career treks into Boston. More than 100 students have signed up for the program so far, according to Harwell.
The Career Center also leads a job shadow program for students over Winter Break. The program matches undergraduates with alumni and active employers for a one-day shadowing and mentoring experience. There are over 200 site hosts across the country available to students.
Harwell encourages students to seek help at the Career Center, no matter where they are in the career or internship search process.
“We can give you tools and prepare you in a way that will ease a lot of the stress of the process,” Harwell said. “You don’t have to do it alone. We have great resources for people to take advantage of and great alumni who want to help students along in their process.”
Featured Image by Amelie Trieu / Heights Editor
