Support Career Education at Lehigh University on Giving Day

The Center for Career & Professional Development (CCPD) offers support and resources within career education while simultaneously providing opportunities for Lehigh students to mentor their peers and grow their own professional skills. One of the ways our center does this is through our Career Fellow program. Career Fellows are a big part of the success of Lehigh students and giving day is a great time to support the Center for Career & Professional Development.

Since the start of the Career Fellow program in 2019, the team of Career Fellows have supported all academic majors and class years at Lehigh through Career Lab, our accessible weekday walk-in hours within the Center for Career & Professional Development. In this space students are assisted with a wide range of career questions and tasks including resume development, cover letter reviews, networking steps, job searching, internship applications and much more. Our staff of selected and trained Career Fellows not only assists students with these career topics, but also share information and advice based on their own recent experiences with interviewing, job or internship searching and career planning.

The Career Fellows have helped more than 1,300 students in Career Lab during the current academic year and more than 6,000 students since the program began in 2019. The success of this program hangs on the dedication of the Career Fellows, thoughtful training provided by the Career Coaches and an emphasis on marketing to bring awareness to the student body of this resource.

In addition to the 1:1 help students can receive at Career Lab, Career Fellows also work closely with student clubs, organizations, groups and teams on campus to facilitate presentations on career topics. Workshops on resume building, networking, career expo prep, interview strategies and many other career-related subjects have been provided for greek life, athletic teams and student organizations. The Scientific Journal club learned about elevator pitches, the lacrosse team focused on resumes and the Women in Business club built skills with networking, all as a result of presentations from Career Fellows in the last year (those mentioned just being a small sample of the presentations facilitated). The Career Fellows are excellent examples of success with peer to peer learning and they allow the Career Center to extend career education opportunities outside the walls of the career center.

The Career Fellow program has the unique outcome of also helping the Career Fellows themselves grow skills and participate in professional development. While helping others, our Fellows are developing and fine-tuning valuable and marketable competencies. Presenting, coaching, teaching, mentoring, marketing, editing, communicating and many other accountabilities become part of the skill set that they take with them to full-time employment and graduate programs. Our Career Fellows have a unique insider view on the workings of the Career Center & the recruitment process, and through training they have developed a deep understanding of all of the career resources available to help students succeed with their personal career plans.

The Career Fellow program started in 2019 with a gift from Jim Hernjak (Mechanical Engineering ‘96, MBA ‘97), which allowed the first cohort of fellows (previously called Career Interns) to join the Career Center team. Since then the Career Fellow program has improved and grown each year and continues to serve as a great resource for Lehigh students. We are now building upon the legacy Jim started, hoping to continue and expand the Career Fellow program for future years.

Think back to your time as a first-year student trying to make your first resume, or a sophomore hoping for a summer internship, or a junior looking for a networking connection at a dream company and a senior shaping plans for after graduation. Career Fellows help students with those very situations every week in the career center. Career planning can be a daunting task, but we strive to make that process easier and more attainable with the Career Fellow program.

Please help us continue this amazing program and expand the reach of career education on the Lehigh campus. A gift to the Center for Career & Professional Development on giving day allows us to continue growing and enhancing the Career Fellow program. Consider donating today to support our mission to provide career education and connections that support student success.