By Meghan Walsh, Union County College Administrator, Academic Affairs Visit facultyconference.americanhonors.org

1. EXPERIENTIAL
LEARNING
Setting our Students on the Path to Career Success
Meghan Walsh
Union County College

4. Olympic Figure Skater?
Private Detective?
TV News Anchor?
Teacher?
Lawyer?
White House Press Secretary?
Editorial Assistant at a major Publishing
House
Marketing Assistant at the same major
Publishing House
Publicist at boutique creative
PR firm
Senior Publicist at another small but
business focused PR Firm
Director of Alumni Relations at a Private
High School
Grant Coordinator at Union County
College
Academic Affairs Administrator at Union
County College

5. Job Exploration
• What do you want to do after college?
• What does it mean to have that career?
• What do you need to do now to get where you want to be?
Interviewing
• How to set up an exploratory interview
• How to prepare for an interview
• How to conduct yourself during an interview
Presentations
• Presenting your experience to peers, faculty and staff

7. Business:
Accounting – LLI CPA
Associates
Human Resources –
American Express
Advertising –The Disney
Channel
Financial Planner –Westfield
Wealth Management
Small BusinessOwner –
Augusta Mae Boutique
Real Estate – Coldwell
Banker
Renewable Energy Investing
– Energy Power Partners
Business Development – Ark
Media
Advertising Sales –
Theknot.com
Government/Law:
Senior Policy Advisor to the
USAmbassador
Legal Counsel – Fox News
Corporation
Police Captain – Cranford
Police Department
Lawyer – UnionCounty
College
Education/
Social
Services:
Teacher/Administer
– Summit High
School
Social
Work/Counselling –
Elizabeth High
School
Psychiatrist – Private
Practice
STEM:
Environmental Engineering
– Langan Engineering
Digital Marketing –The
Red Cross
Engineering – Sika
Corporation
Biochemist -Celgene
Arts:
PublishedAuthor –
Eva Natiello,The
Memory Box
Medicine:
Midwife – Overlook
Hospital
Dentist – Private
Practice
Ophthalmologist –VA
Hospital
Obstetrician- Private
Practice

8. Here are the things that you will need to do for this experience to be successful:
Contact the professional.
Research the company you will be visiting.
Fill out a Experiential Learning consent form.
Confirm your appointment.
Conduct a professional interview or office visit.
Follow up with a personal note of thanks.
Present your experience to your classmates.
Checklist

9. • What was your major?
• What path did you take to get to where you are today?
Did you always know you wanted to be in this field?
• What is your favorite thing about your job?
• What is the most challenging part of your job?
• What opportunities for growth are there in this
profession?
• What is the home-life balance with this career?
• What advice do you have for someone starting out in
this profession?
Do Ask…

10. • How much money do you make?
• Are you married?
• Do you have kids? (unless this comes up in
conversation)
• Will you hire me?
Don’t Ask…

11. What should you wear?
Business Casual is the way to go!
This means:

12. Don’tWear…
 Sweats!
 Jeans!
 Anything too short, too
tight or too revealing!
 Sneakers!
 A hat!
 Printed tee-shirts!

13. DoWear… (for
the guys)
• Pants – khakis, black, grey, or
navy
• Button down shirt, collared
shirt, or sweater
• Shoes that are not sneakers

14. DoWear… (for
the ladies)
• Pants (khaki, navy, grey or black)
• Skirt (not short or tight)
• Dress (tailored and neat)
• Blouse or sweater
• Flats, boots or heels

15. Dear Ms. Monroe,
My name is Meghan Walsh and I am a student at Union
County College. I am a Business major and a member of
the American Honors program. Thank you so much for
offering me the opportunity to learn more about your
career in the field of Marketing. I look forward to meeting
with you at your convenience. I am available on Tuesdays
and Thursdays and am happy to meet with you at a time
that works for your schedule. I appreciate the time and
expertise you are willing to give to help me explore my
career options. I look forward to meeting you.
Sincerely,
Meghan Walsh
Meghan.walsh@owl.ucc.edu
908-555-5555

16. The Big Day! Don’t forget to:
Be on time… no… Be early!
Turn off and put away your phone
(headphones too!)
Shake hands.
Be polite.
Be engaging – ask lots of questions.
Be patient (remember that they are
taking time out of their day to meet
with you and might have to take calls,
meet with colleagues, etc.).
Respect the property and space of the
office you are visiting.
Thank them!

17. Dear Ms. Monroe,
Thank you so much for taking the time out of your
schedule to meet with me yesterday. I learned so much
about the Marketing field. I was mostly intrigued by the
business development aspect of your job. This seems like
something I would be very interested in pursuing. I really
enjoyed meeting you and visiting the CMW Media
offices. Thank you for everything.
Sincerely,
Meghan Walsh

18. Experiential Learning

20. Challenges
• Non-credit
• Optional assignment
• Presentations
• STEM opportunities
Moving Forward
• Required assignment
• Presentation skill session
• Technology
• More opportunities
• Networking – Community
• Networking – Organizations(Rotary, Jaycees,
etc.)
• Networking -AH
• Career services
• ResumeWriting
• Mock Interview
• Social media for job seeking

22. Questions?
Ideas?
Suggestions?

23. THANK YOU!
MEGHAN WALSH
908-497-4394
MEGHAN.WALSH31@UCC.EDU