As most of the second year students can tell you: time flies at SIPA. Just when you are starting to feel that you know every building on campus you will find yourself in your last semester and looking for your next job. As we all know, the transition to the professional world can be difficult and discouraging, this is why the Office of Career Services (OCS) has been developing new initiatives to support students in their quest.
The Office of Career Services (OCS) is in charge of providing students and alumni with tools to manage their professional development. Throughout the semester, they organize several activities and services aimed at informing students about their options in terms of internships and full time jobs. As a first year student, you will profit from the professional panels where you can learn about possible employers and the procedure to apply to future positions. Some of the employers that have participated in these panels are: the Federal Reserve Bank of NY, the Central Intelligence Agency, Human Right Watch, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, and Eurasia Group.
Along with the professional panels, OCS has put in place the SIPA Career Coaching Program where students can receive part-time coaching from SIPA alumni working in their field of interest as well as OCS assistance on resume, cover letter writing and salary negotiation strategies. A SIPA second year student, Henry Fernandez, has used OCS services in the past for polishing up his resume. In a recent interview, he said “OCS helped me translate my experience in sustainable development into energy markets. The office does a great job at preparing students to launch their careers post SIPA.”
Finally, OCS offers a database of current positions, including internships, for both current students and alumni in a variety of professional fields. The database, which can be access through SIPAlink, has proved to be quite useful to current students in helping them to find internships.
If you are curious on what other things OCS does, visit our past blog post or go to the SIPA OCS website: http://new.sipa.columbia.edu/careers/career-services.
