Columbia College Report

Derek Kim ’16 was considering a career in marketing or advertising, but didn’t know whether he would enjoy the day-to-day work in the field. So he spent Spring Break of his first year shadowing Stephanie Foster ’12, a sales assistant at Hallmark/Crown Media, to get exposure to the industry, and gained a new sense of confidence about his career goals.

Derek Kim ’16 and Stephanie Foster ’12 at Hallmark/Crown Media during spring break 2013. Photo: Courtesy of the Center for Career Education

“How would I know if the industry was for me unless I got a taste of the environment?” Kim says. “The opportunity at Hallmark/Crown Media has been great to explore the field, make better decisions and gain contacts in the industry. I got exposed to industry software and the process of producing commercials and I have new ideas about what to study academically. … It truly showed that Columbia supports me in my future plans,” he adds.

Kim was one of 28 Columbia College students who participated in the Center for Career Education’s Columbia Exploration Externship program in spring 2013. The program, which started in spring 2012, is designed to provide first-years the opportunity to gain exposure to the professional world early in their undergraduate careers. Students can apply for shadowing opportunities at companies ranging from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine to the Harlem-based charter school Success Academy to the investment bank Nomura to the start-up AOL Ventures.

“By giving students an opportunity to shadow and observe a career professional who also happens to be a member of the Columbia College alumni family, we are giving students a chance to explore an industry of interest while potentially opening the door for career and mentorship opportunities,” says Kavita Sharma, dean of the Center for Career Education.

Shen Qiu ’16 and Albert Pan ’16, who spent the week shadowing Eileen Lee ’05, COO of Venture for America, a nonprofit that trains and places top college graduates at start-ups, had the opportunity to read applications of many of VFA’s fellowship candidates, themselves college seniors. They also spent time interviewing the members of VFA’s small staff about their backgrounds and positions, an experience that helped them realize how many career options there are, they say. Qiu and Pan found particular value in the ability to learn other people’s personal stories.

“Try to do interesting things other than just following the generic path.” — Albert Pan ’16

“I had a lot of upperclassmen telling me, this is what you have to do to get into investment banking, and I was pretty set to do all the steps,” Pan says. “But now it got me thinking about all the diverse possibilities — like during my summers I don’t have to intern at a bank … Talking to a lot of people, finding out about their experiences and seeing other people’s resumes, [I thought], 'Wow, there are so many more options out there. [You can] live your life and try to do interesting things other than just following the generic path.”

“The more interesting part is their personal story, their motivations and inspirations, and how to plan your college life and career,” Qiu adds. “We heard that some of them, for example, went to [a big banking company] and then quit after a year because it was boring or tedious to work in a huge company where you’re only functional. We were surprised to hear that, even though the name is prestigious, it’s not very challenging or meaningful for intellectual people to work there.”

Qiu says the experience opened up his and Pan’s thinking about the future: “Should we work in those huge-name companies or should we do something like entrepreneurship or a business that we like, like an NGO or nonprofit? It’s very inspiring.”

For Lee, who has worked for VFA for 2½ years, Qiu and Pan had just the experience she was hoping they would have. “I thought I only had four options coming out of school,” she says. “It was either investment banking, consulting, law or medicine. And so I went into consulting … [I liked] the idea of being able to expose two freshmen to something other than that, and the idea of trying to make an impact on somebody.”

Foster, who sponsored the externship at Hallmark/Crown Media, says she wishes she had had access to a program like this when she was in school.

“It’s great to be able to offer this opportunity to first-years and allow them to connect with alumni to explore roles early and ‘get their feet wet’,” she says. “It offers them a glimpse of life after Columbia and an opportunity to grow.

“It’s a great opportunity for alumni to get involved because you stay connected to the school in a meaningful way,” she adds. “I would highly recommend that other alumni get involved and offer externship opportunities through the Columbia Exploration Externship program.”