In February, volunteers from the University of Kansas organized the first CareerEp conference in Kansas City. The event brought together over 200 SigEp undergraduates from throughout the Midwest, including Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa, as well as 60 alumni from the Kansas City area, for career preparation and networking. The program’s events included career education programs for freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors led by alumni in human resources and student life, a career fair featuring 15 companies represented by local alumni, mock interviews and Q&A sessions on different career paths and local companies.
This is the third spring development event hosted by the chapter. The first two years were focused on the Kansas Gamma Chapter, and emphasized campus and chapter leadership and how it positively impacts career opportunities. The undergraduates liked the career programs the most, so this year’s CareerEp was born.
“The job market definitely isn’t good,” said Chapter President Dan Bjornson, Kansas ’13. “It’s hard to get a job out there, but with programs like this, it’s a lot easier. They show you what to do and get you to meet the right people. It’s definitely a great opportunity.”
Alumni at the event represented a variety of career fields, from education to medicine, business, engineering, non-profits, information technology and many more, and came from well-known local and national companies such as Burns & McDonnell, Cerner Corporation, Black & Veatch, Perceptive Software, Federal Reserve Bank, Yellow Freight, the Red Cross, Northwestern Mutual and Hallmark.
"I was incredibly impressed with how well-organized the event was and the value it provided, and wish I would have had access to something similar when I was an undergrad,” said Mike Zimmerman, Northwest Missouri State ’93, and Managing Principal at The Insurance Partners in Kansas City.
The Kansas Gamma AVC generously sponsored the entire cost of the event, allowing undergraduates to attend at no charge. CareerEp is part of Kansas Gamma’s “Signature Series” educational programs, including LeadEp, a leadership development and networking program held each spring, and PRE 101, a for-credit university freshman orientation class with a SigEp-only section taught by the chapter’s faculty fellow, Russ Waltz, South Carolina ’02.
The SigEp network in Kansas City was a huge key to the event’s success. Thanks to Todd Adams, Kansas ’94, CareerEp was held at Livestrong Sporting Park, the new home of Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer and recently named the “Most Wired Stadium in America,” where Adams is the vice president of sales. And thanks to local TV news anchor Mark Boyle, Colorado State ’05, the clip above was shown on KCTV5’s Saturday morning show the day before the event
Plans for next year’s CareerEp are already underway, with the intention of bringing in even more alumni –over 100 more expressed interest but couldn’t attend this year. The chapter is also looking at ways to keep the program going year-round through networking events, one-on-one mentoring and more direct exposure to local companies.
Visit www.careerep.net to learn more about CareerEp’s programs and to contact the leadership team.
