2020 Career Boot Camp Outcomes

The seventh annual Career Boot Camp for sophomores featured many of the long-standing networking activities and industry panels, but with some significant modifications to the second day of the program. This year, we added nine new programs and allowed students to select the three that they felt were most valuable/targeted to their current needs. For the first time, this included academic planning, study abroad application guidance, grant-writing, excel skills, grad school planning, networking/professional communication in the workplace, career exploration, and diversity/inclusion in the workplace. Instead of having students attend different versions of the same three programs (resume, internship search, LinkedIn), we hoped this would encourage more student engagement, as they were able to pick what they felt was most relevant to them at the moment and allow greater choice/flexibility. In their feedback, some students indicated that they wanted the ability to attend MORE workshop options (rather than being limited to three); still others commented the program could be shortened further and/or targeted more closely to their individual needs/interests.

Professional Skill Development Outcomes demonstrate students coming to Boot Camp reporting greater prior understanding and familiarity with various skills. In 2020, 44% of student respondents reported “a fair amount” or “a great deal” of knowledge in talents and skills valued by employers prior to Boot Camp (51% in 2019, 48% in 2018, and 33% in 2017). 75% indicated the same level of knowledge about the potential negative career aspects of social media, which was a small increase from 72% in 2019. Prior awareness of the positive career aspects of social media jumped fifteen percentage points to 60% this year.

Despite the apparent high prior knowledge numbers, the percentage of students expressing a "great deal" or "fair amount" of career skill knowledge and/or understanding after the program was 86% across the board, significantly lower than 2019’s 94-95% range. While we did not track this year whether students had a prior resume or LinkedIn page, it was clear that 83% of them had engaged in prior career development (22% reported “quite a bit”, 61% “a limited amount” and 17% “none”). The lower knowledge (and satisfaction/recommendation) numbers are perhaps in part a reaction to large group programming.

The feedback received from students indicates a desire for still more targeted skill development, as well as for information and training to be imparted during smaller and more hands-on activities. Thus, we continue to review the program to tailor content and presentations as much as possible to meet student needs and expectations. Students and panelists made additional suggestions for new areas (e.g. data science/analytics, arts organizations, greater diversity in communication and nonprofits, etc.) to be explored.

Selected Student Quotes About Their Experience:
“Learning how my future career path doesn't always have a linear direction. Individualism in how you chose to go about finding your future is acceptable and important.”

“I learned a lot about what drove those people into specific fields and more of their day to day activities which helped me understand what I wanted.”

“There are so many different directions business can take you in and that St. Lawrence alumni are more than willing to help in any capacity they can.”

“Do not shy away from competitive job fields in this industry [finance/banking]. Use your SLU network to connect with company executives and many great things can happen.”

“I felt very well informed about the path to working in the tech industry, and the ways in which I can look for internships, jobs, and focus my classes in order to get the kinds of jobs I’m looking for.”

2020 Sophomore Career Boot Camp By The Numbers

215 registrants (highest ever; actual participants closer to 180 due to late-breaking conflicts/weather)
40 Alumni/Parent Panelists registered (tied for most in 2018; lost 3 due to weather)
9 Industry Panels (business/consulting, communication, education & counseling, entrepreneurship, environment & sustainability, finance/banking, non-profit & public service, health/medicine, science/technology)
16 (up from 7 in 2019) career skills presentations/panels: What Employers Want, Elevator Pitch, LinkedIn Creation, Career Exploration*, Intro to Personal Finance/Credit*, Professional Networking/Comm. Skills*, Resume Creation, Excel Skills*, Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace*, Grant-writing*, Academic Planning*, Study Abroad*, Grad School Planning*, Managing Digital Identity, Young Alumni Panel, Internship Search
2 Networking Activities (lunch & small group networking with panelists)
*New Activity

Sophomore Career Boot Camp/Professional Skill Development Outcomes
(63% response rate—down from 70% in 2019)

Before Boot Camp After Boot Camp
Student’s Knowledge & Fair amount Great deal Fair amount Great deal
Understanding of:

Talents & experience employers 27% 17% 35% 51%
value in prospective candidates

The potential positive career/ 37% 23% 36% 50%
professional impacts of social media

The potential negative career/ 39% 26% 36% 60%
professional impacts of social media

The communication skills 35% 19% 41% 45%
employers expect

How to network 29% 17% 39% 47%
(protocols/techniques)

Student Motivation
As a result of having attended Boot Camp, how inspired or motivated do you feel to continue career exploration (internships), professional development and/or networking activities?

2020 2019 2018 2017

Not at all         3%                   2%                   1%                   0%
A little              6%                  4%                   2%                   4%
Somewhat       17%                16%                  14%                11%
Quite a bit       44%                 43%                53%                50%
Greatly            29%                35%                30%                35%

Additional Student Reactions

86% (down from 93% in 2019, 89% in 2018; 96% in 2017) said they “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that the What Employers Want Panel was useful in learning how to present themselves effectively to an employer
76% said they would recommend Boot Camp to their classmates (18% “maybe”; 6% “no”); similar to 2019, with the exception of an increase in “no” (77%/20%/2%)

For the fourth year, students were asked to name the two most important "take-aways" from the boot camp. In descending order of frequency, these were:

Importance of SLU Networking/Networking Skills                  32
Value of Focused Career Exploration                                    10
Specific Interview Strategies                                                  9
Managing Social Media Carefully                                            8
Importance of Communication Skills                                       8
Internship Importance/Search                                                 7
Exhibiting Professionalism                                                      6

Also mentioned multiple times were: Elevator Pitches (5); Importance of Applying to positions, Understanding What Employers Value, Career Exploration Workshop, LinkedIn (4); Resume Creation, Career Uncertainty is OK, Location/Value of SLU-specific resources(3); Personal Finance, Finding Your Passion, Importance of Perseverance (2)

Mentioned singly were: Excel skills, Life after College tips, cover letter creation, study abroad guidance, re-assurance about having chosen St. Lawrence, using Handshake career tool, the workshops in general, importance of career guidance, grad/prof school tips, value of liberal arts education.