Welcoming Grace Conde, Assistant Director of Experiential Learning, to Career Development
Written by Olivia Harris, Student Assistant for Student Outreach
The Office of Career Development is excited to welcome Grace Conde to the position of Assistant Director of Experiential Learning. Grace is a graduate of the University of Vermont and holds proficiency in both French and Russian. She previously served the Office of Career Development as the Student Employment Assistant. We are excited to see what Grace will achieve in her new role!
As part of Grace’s promotion, Olivia Harris conducted a short interview with her. Read her answers below!
Question 1: How would you describe your role to students, and what do you feel is most important for students to know about you and your role?
“I think my role as the Assistant Director of Experiential Learning is to work with students to identify internships that most closely relate to their major or future intended area of study. Then, I help them identify experiential opportunities where they can gain real-world applicable skills and bring that experience back into their studies at Chatham. Ultimately, the goal is to help prepare them for future careers in areas they're passionate about.”
“Another big part of my job is working to bring off-campus employers and organizations to the Chatham community. For example, we have connections with organizations like Literacy Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, and the Aviary. We do this through events like Workforce Wednesday and other events throughout the year. These are great opportunities for students to come meet employers. It's important for students to know that we have these connections, and they can definitely use our office to connect with employers. Additionally, they can use our services to prepare their resumes and cover letters for these experiences.”
Question 2: What are you most looking forward to in this office?
“I'm most looking forward to having my student appointments. A big part of why I enjoy this job so much is that it really focuses on the developmental aspect of a student's career and their professional identity. For me, getting to work with students and having them, sometimes for the first time, really develop and identify what a professional identity means to them is really important, and I really enjoy the one-on-one aspect of getting to know and support students individually.”
Additional Information:
“I’ll still handle student employment as well, like on-campus employment. That includes things like contracts and timesheets on myChatham. Students will continue to go through my office for that, so I’ll be doing both, internships and experiential learning alongside student employment.
I also offer any service that Career Development offers, like salary negotiation, interview prep, and resume and cover letter review. Students can schedule an appointment with me for any of these services.”
This concludes Grace’s Interview.