If you did any research before applying to graduate school, you’re probably aware that SIPA has its own career office dedicated to SIPA students. That means that SIPA’s Office of Career Services (OCS) has only one job: to help current SIPA students enhance their networking skills and job/internship hunt. For me, the key takeaway is that OCS is just here to assist SIPA students. Not Law School students, not Teachers College students, and not Columbia College (undergraduate) students. And that’s a big deal.

You may recall yesterday years from undergrad when you were fighting for face time with your Office of Career Services. (I know I did!) You had to schedule appointments weeks in advance and they were impossible to reach via phone. That’s not an issue at SIPA. OCS is just here for its Seeples and we wouldn’t have it any other way. The offer a variety of services to help current students and alumni find their career paths, such as networking events, on-campus recruitment sessions, career advising, and internship grants.

One service that I believe is often overlooked, is SIPA Career Coaching (SIPACC) by experts in the field. SIPACCs are full-time professionals who volunteer throughout the year to offer industry-specific knowledge to current students who just don’t know which direction to go. Sessions run 30 minutes and current students can sign up for them in SIPAlink, our job and internship database. Typically, you can expect to pay $100 or more for a one-on-one career coaching session, but the wonderful volunteers with SIPACC offer this service for free!

In the sessions they’ll:

• Dispense industry-specific job advice in their field(s).
• Share their knowledge about various career opportunities related to the advisee’s SIPA concentration or specialization.
• Establish steps that should be undertaken by the advisee in order to advance in a particular industry.
• Offer other career advice at their discretion.

On another note: this isn’t a one-time thing. SIPA students and alumni can sign up for three coaching sessions per semester! So add this to the “win” column for why SIPA is the place for you. We hope to see you in the fall.