The Center for Career Development highlighting upcoming events.
JOSHUA REICHARD / THE QUADRANGLE
Joshua Reichard, Asst. A&E Editor
The Center for Career Development at Manhattan University (MU) hosted an event on March 25 for students in the Kakos School of Arts and Sciences (KSAS). The event aimed to help students explore potential career paths and teach them more about the current job market.
The event, titled “Explore What’s Possible: Career Paths in Arts & Sciences,” was hosted by Kathleen Gomez-Reid, a career counselor at MU. It was the latest event in the center’s Spring 2026 Career Chat Series, designed to help students expand their knowledge of career opportunities. Assuring that students in the arts and sciences gain more knowledge about career opportunities, Gomez-Reid noted the importance of networking and building relationships.
“We talk about LinkedIn all the time because it’s really important to build your professional network and to maintain connections and relationships,” Gomez-Reid said. “You want to maintain those connections because that way you can get insight, that way you can make connections, and that way you can navigate today’s job market, which looks very different from how things were even three to five years ago.”
MU students also have access to the Jasper Career Network, an online resource where students can connect with alumni.
“Jasper Career Network [is] similar to LinkedIn, but it’s only for Jaspers,” Gomez-Reid said. “If you are a student, you can create an account and connect with alums. You can also use these resources to understand job market trends, so you can understand what things are changing. Again, this job market is so different.”
Students pursuing careers in performing, visual and digital arts are encouraged to create portfolios to showcase their work to employers and others in their industries.
“You want to create a portfolio to showcase your projects and all of your work,” Gomez-Reid said. “That [way] you can add [a] hyperlink to your resume and hiring managers can easily see what you are capable of.”
She also encouraged students in the arts to get involved in events and performances, sharing them on social media and maintaining a strong online presence.
“When you come in for interviews, or when you’re meeting professionals already in the industry, they’re going to want to see your work right away,” Gomez-Reid said. “Make sure your [social media] accounts look great. You want to give viewers easy access to see you and to know what you’re good at, and what you can do when it comes to those opportunities in the arts.”
Gomez-Reid ended the career chat by adding that students’ college experience is more than just academics; it is also an important start to their future.
“When you come to college, you’re preparing for your career, you have academics, and you’re taking classes, but you’re also trying to figure out where you see yourself in the world,” Gomez-Reid said.
Cesar Tavarez-Vasquez, a junior international studies major, found the event to be helpful for students in the school.
“I was looking for what kind of pathways are open for me,” Tavarez-Vasquez said. “It’s great to see what tools are at my disposal here. [The event] gave me some new tools that can really help me.”
He also said that many students in the humanities feel limited to certain careers, and that events like this can change that.
“I often hear from people in my major that they find the only way to progress in the humanities is to get a career as an educator or through going to graduate school,” Tavarez-Vasquez said. “I think they should be going to these events to see what other options exist.”
Julie Anna Alvarez Rivera, director of the Center for Career Development, spoke to The Quadrangle about the Career Chat Series and what it was designed to do.
“This semester we’ve been hosting a series focused on each of the schools, particularly focused on career exploration, because we recognize that not everyone is at the stage where they know exactly the direction they want to go in,” Alvarez said.
She encourages KSAS students to use Handshake, an employment website where students can sign up using their school emails. She also incentivizes students to check their inboxes for updated potential career opportunities.
“The best thing students can do across all the schools is use their Handshake accounts and make sure they are receiving our emails.” Alvarez said, “Typically every week there’s [emails] going out to students that are specific to their majors and areas of expertise.”
Students are encouraged to attend events at the Center for Career Development to learn more, and can even make appointments to talk about anything they might have missed.
“We’d love to see [students] come in person to meet us; we’ll continue to hold different events,” Alvarez said. “We can do virtual appointments, if [students] want to get a leg up on their job search, even over the summer.”