Building on success

11/6/2012 - It may be rated top among business schools in graduate satisfaction, but Kellogg’s Career Management Center has even better things in store for Kellogg students and alumni.

After being named the “undisputed winner” in career services by MBA-focused website Poets and Quants, the CMC recently announced new service enhancements in an effort to make a strong department even stronger.

“The team has had great success with a very lean staff,” CMC Managing Director Michael Malone
says. “We want to build on those strengths even further so we are in the marketplace as the place to be if you are an employer looking to connect with MBA-level talent.”

The CMC conducted a series of conversations with team members and peer institutions to determine what the department was doing well, identify proposed initiatives that could use additional support and evaluate successful practices of other business schools, Malone said. The team then met with students, alumni and key employers to gain feedback on ideas to improve services. The result was a restructuring plan that enhances services in three key areas.

Dedicated administrator for international opportunities
The new position of director for global relations and international coaching, held by former CMC Senior Associate Director Carla Edelston, will further the Kellogg brand globally by identifying, building and maintaining relationships with employers worldwide, Malone explains.

“Carla will build on the deep relationships she’s already fostered among alumni and employers as well as establish new relationships in enterprise spaces,” he says. “This role will also focus on coaching our coaches and being a person with deep international intel to enable us all to be resources for students who are looking to work outside their home region.”

Increased coaching capacity
Although its team of career coaches has done outstanding work one-on-one, in small groups and large workshops, the CMC found it could benefit greatly from having more coaches on the roster, says Malone.

“We are building further bench strength so we can extend our reach,” he says. “We want to have the right blend and volume of coaches to build and maintain relationships and show students we are truly interested not just in short-term but long-term success.”

Expanded employer relations
As the needs of established employers grew exponentially over time, the three-person team focused on building and maintaining employer relationships had fewer resources available to foster connections with employers whose hiring needs don’t adhere to an on-campus recruiting cycle, Malone says.

“Anything from media to clean tech, investment management to real estate — many of the firms and organizations that exist in those areas don’t follow the established cadence for hiring,” he says. “We now have two new business development team members who will uncover opportunities in these areas.”

Building on success
The new initiatives will allow the CMC to continue to provide students, alumni and employers with the outstanding support it’s famous for.

“The most important factor is that they find something that fits,” Malone says. “We will work through every stage of a student’s search, and they will continue on into their alumni career with that support behind them.”


Further Reading

• The ‘undisputed winner’
  
• World’s Best MBA Career Management Centers (Poets and Quants)