Kelly Hughes is a second-year CIPA Fellow concentrating in Social Policy. She can be reached at kh568@cornell.edu.
One question we’re often asked at CIPA is “How do students get jobs in major cities from Ithaca, New York?” CIPA has its own Office of Career Management that is dedicated to providing a myriad of networking and connection opportunities to our students so that Ithaca’s location is non-factor in job searches.
Last week, over Cornell’s fall break, approximately 50 CIPA Fellows journeyed to Washington D.C. to participate in CIPA’s annual D.C. networking event. The event allows Fellows to meet with representatives from government agencies, private sector companies, and international organizations based in Washington D.C. Representatives include a number of CIPA alumni, who are always eager to talk to current Fellows about their post-CIPA work experiences.
Students and representatives participate in “speed networking” sessions in which representatives spend 15-20 minutes speaking with a group of students before rotating to the next group. This way Fellows are able to learn about all of the featured organizations and ask any questions they may have. After the afternoon networking sessions, CIPA hosts an evening reception for all of the panelists, student attendees, and other area alumni who may not have been able to join during the day. The reception gives Fellows the opportunity to speak further with representatives of companies of particular interest to them as well as meet additional alumni.
As someone who has participated in this networking event both last year and this year, I have found it to be extremely useful. Both years, there have been representatives of organizations I had never previously considered that turned out to be highly interesting and relevant to my career interests. The importance of meeting someone face-to-face cannot be overstated; an email follow-up expressing interest is much more effective when your contact has met you in person. The event was also useful both during my first-year summer internship search and in kicking off my second-year job search. (For another student perspective on the event, please check out first-year Fellow Mickey Harold’s blog post reflecting on his experience.)
Speaking of internships, check out some of the great experiences our students had this past summer to get a flavor for the wide variety of internships CIPA Fellows pursue:
- Luis Ferreira at The Council on Foreign Relations
- Dana Westgren at the Chicago Mayor’s Office Fellowship Program
- Ellie Zhong at the New York City Department of Transportation
- Davis Judson at Empire State Development
- Samantha Cherney at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Operations
Many Fellows obtain summer internships based on the information they gather and the connections they make at the Washington D.C. networking event and the New York City networking event, which is conducted in a similar format to the D.C. event. The D.C. event is also a great place for those considering participation in the semester-long Washington D.C. Externship Program to learn more about their options in the city.