St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Holds Annual Student-Athlete Career Night Monday
4/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | General
April 23, 2009
QUEENS, N.Y. - On Monday night, St. John's student-athletes were invited to bring resumes, enjoy dinner and spend time networking with professionals from their prospective fields as part of the annual Student-Athlete Career Night. The event continues a history of more than 20 years, having begun under Jack Kaiser, now Athletic Director Emeritus, and through the efforts of Mary Pat Beirne, the current Assistant Director of Athletic Development. The event, held at Council Hall on the Queens campus, was sponsored by Northwestern Mutual Financial Network - the Nemec Group.
The evening began with an introduction and welcome by Eric Rienecker, Director of Academic Support for Student-Athletes, and Associate Vice President for Athletics Kathy Meehan.
There were over 30 facilitators from various businesses invited to share their stories with the student-athletes, including several Red Storm alumni.
The 2009 Career Night was organized by Justin Krass, who is in his second year as a Career Counselor in the Career Center.
"Student-Athlete Career Night is a great opportunity for student athletes to learn more about their chosen field and develop connections within it," said Krass. "By speaking with employers, many of whom are former student-athletes and St. John's alumni, soon-to-be-graduates gain first hand information from people who have been in their shoes. Through connections made at this event student-athletes have obtained both internships and full-time jobs. Often, these graduates then return as facilitators."
Following dinner, student-athletes were given the opportunity to converse with facilitators from their fields of interest and discuss potential employment or internship opportunities. They also learned how to adapt their transferable skills from athletics to a corporate environment. Several professionals from the areas of education, health, sports, entertainment, finance and marketing were in attendance to mix and mingle with the student-athletes.
The student-athletes were then able to go around the room in two roundtable discussions where they were introduced to different potential employers and were encouraged to return to tables they found interesting and pertained to their career goals.
Kaiser echoed the enthusiasm for the event.
"This annual, successful event is always very professionally done and well run," said Kaiser, the Hall of Fame baseball coach and longtime STJ Director of Athletics. "This is an awesome event - a great opportunity in which our student-athletes can take advantage."