The majority of graduating seniors have utilized the career resources on campus to explore their employment options as the university works to diversify and expand job advising services across the undergraduate schools.

The Cawley Career Education Center, the primary career resource on campus, provides services like drop-in appointments, meetings to review resumes and cover letters, mock interviews, industry advising and other events such as employer presentations and educational seminars. Approximately 85% to 90% of graduating seniors have engaged with the center during their time at Georgetown University, according to Susan Campbell, Cawley’s director.

Cawley works with students to develop a career strategy by leveraging relationships with alumni, employers and graduate schools afforded by the university, according to Campbell.

“Cawley seeks to provide career services that are not only truly excellent, but distinctively Georgetown—drawing upon our Jesuit identity to understand career decisions in the context of a student’s innate capacities, developing interests, and purposeful ambitions,” Campbell wrote in an email to The Hoya.

While Cawley provides helpful resources to students, individuals interested in specific industries might have to look for guidance outside of the center, according to Luke Butcher (COL ’19), who will go into development after graduation.

“I found the resume review helpful, and I ultimately found my job through the fall career fair,” Butcher wrote in an email to The Hoya. “In terms of very specific career advising though, I found my professors most helpful – which is fine! That’s not a critique of the career center – I think it’s just how development (my field of interest) works.”

In fall of 2017, students reported mixed experiences with Cawley, after which the center collaborated with the Georgetown University Student Association to address student concerns and increase availability of career resources to all students.

To supplement Cawley’s work, the university’s other undergraduate schools have taken steps to introduce students to a broader range of career options. The McDonough School of Business’s Office of Professional Development was opened September 2014 as an additional career resource for students in the MSB.

The Office of Professional Development helps students explore opportunities across in both the business industry and other areas as well as aids them in connecting with students and alumni working in their fields of interest, according to Talia Schatz, director of the Office of Professional Development.

“The office works to foster principled, global leaders of the future, across all industries,” Schatz wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Our office offers programming in a multitude of sectors including: marketing, digital strategy, accounting, operations and information management and more.”

The office supplements Cawley by offering educational and mentorship programs catered to business students seeking summer internships as well as postgraduation jobs, Schatz said.

“It is our hope to interact with all of our students during the course of their time at Georgetown McDonough,” Schatz wrote.

While Cawley and the Office of Professional Development offer resources for Georgetown students looking for jobs in all industries, however, some have criticized the dominance of opportunities in finance and consulting as opposed to other industries.

One year after graduating from Georgetown, 21.9% of the Class of 2017 was working in the financial services industry and 18.5% in consulting, according to data published in Cawley’s First Destination Report. Over the past seven years, the financial services and consulting industries have hired more than 40% of fully employed graduates.

Other undergraduate schools at Georgetown have also encouraged introducing students to a more diverse set of career options through programs that foster connections between students and professionals working in various industries.

School of Foreign Service Dean Joel Hellman led efforts since spring of 2016 to introduce students to public sector and nonprofit opportunities through coffee chats with industry professionals. In the College, Dean Thomas Chiarolanzio worked to establish the Social Responsibility Network, a pilot program dedicated to connecting current students with alumni who work in nonprofit and education sectors.

The university is working to develop a campuswide system that supports holistic career development by going beyond career services through the campus centers to include advising in academic programs and co-curricular activities in all undergraduate schools, according to Campbell.

“We hope to transform career services from a place on campus to a campus-wide and global ecosystem that permeates both the institutional culture and the student experience,” Campbell wrote.