SPP students and alumni have participated in a number of career talks this academic year starting with a recruitment talk by Open Society Foundations in November. Recent events have been about policy research and advising at the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), the Schwarzman Scholars Program in China, and Careers in the EU / European Affairs (including an event specifically focused on European Commission traineeships). Although most participants attend in person, there are always a few – sometimes more – who connect remotely. (Sometimes it’s the people giving the talk who are connecting remotely.) “The wonderful technology in the new building makes it possible for us to share these talks with students and alumni who are not able to attend in person,” says Ann Gagliardi, Director, SPP Career and Alumni Programs.
“As a soon-to-be SPP graduate, I am especially interested in learning about potential entry points for my career in public policy, so I really appreciate that CEU has gone to the trouble of making it possible for me to participate,” says Anastasia Zabusova (Mundus MAPP ’17). Zabusova, who spent the first year of the Mundus MAPP program in Budapest last year, is at Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) in Barcelona this year. Zabusova remembers the session on the Schwarzman Scholars Program as being “very compelling” and says she is considering applying to the program later this year. “Ann makes it so easy for us to take part. Among other things, she collects questions from us via email during the sessions, becoming our 'voice' in the classroom.”
Ann-Kathrin Beck (Mundus MAPP ’17), who is also spending the second year of the Mundus MAPP program in Barcelona, has made it a point to participate remotely in several career talks as well. Beck says she found the talk by Mark Furness from DIE especially useful. She adds, however, that all of the talks have been worthwhile. “What’s particularly interesting for me is to hear how professionals ended up in the jobs they have now – to learn about their academic and professional backgrounds, how they got hired, and what the entry requirements and entry-level positions in their respective organizations are.”
“I’m really delighted that so many of our students and alumni have taken advantage of the chance to participate remotely. Members of the extended CEU community clearly see these career events as a good way of staying engaged with the institution. I’ve just checked, and more than half of the people who have signed up for our next career talk, on March 2, will connect remotely to hear about careers in political risk,” said Gagliardi.