The Smith School and Campus Partners Help to Make Career Week 2024 a Success

Career Week 2024 at the University of Maryland was the most successful yet. Now in its fourth year, the January event had 2,600 registrants, 1,300 attendees and 25 in-person and virtual events for alumni to foster professional development and to network with other Terps. Hosted by the Alumni Association, colleagues across campus planned events and among the 11 different partners who developed programming for alumni was the Robert H. Smith School of Business Office of Alumni Relations.

Ellie Geraghty, director of alumni career programs with UMD, says “One of the things that was different is that we had a lot of our partners collaborating to create larger-scale mass engagement events and I think that’s what really helped us.”

Career Week was designed because of alumni input seeking support when it comes to job placement and career advancement. The theme of the 2024 week was Terps helping Terps, and the Alumni Association hopes to increase awareness about the resources available to alumni through this annual campus-wide initiative.

The Smith School partnered with the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, the College of Education, and the School of Public Policy on a virtual Career Changers event. The Smith School also partnered with the College of Information Studies, the School of Public Policy and the Merrill College on an in-person Speed Networking event.

Mark Forrest, program director of alumni relations for the Smith School, says collaborating with other schools on campus “helps us to be more holistic with our engagement efforts” and also helps with Terps who have multiple degrees from the university, allowing them to engage and learn from other units.

Zackary Albrecht, program manager of alumni relations and development for the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, says they shared the virtual career changers event with their alumni “and that gave them an opportunity to hear about career transitions and career changers from people who have vastly different experiences.” The session ended with representatives from the Smith Office of Career Services leading a workshop which Albrecht noted was an “interdisciplinary approach to education on all facets.”

In addition to the events held virtually and on campus, Geraghty says events were held throughout Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia as well as in New York and California. To stay informed about more campus events, ensure your contact information is up to date to receive future event information. If you missed Career Week 2024, check out some of the video recordings from select sessions on the Alumni Association's YouTube page.