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Last week, the Dolan School hosted Junior Career Night, as students spent an evening with top business executives. This year, 27 mentors, many of whom are Fairfield alumni, volunteered their time for this signature event to meet with juniors in the Dolan School and provide industry-specific advice and lessons to help them succeed.

The evening kicked off with an introduction from Dr. Don Gibson, dean of the Dolan School, followed by an address from Cath Borgman, director of the Career Planning Center and Sarah Bollinger, director of Internships and Professional Development.

“Junior Career Night is a terrific opportunity for students. It’s a chance to get informal advice from people with experience in a variety of career paths, an opportunity to make critical network connections, and for some students, it’s a wake-up call to prepare, prepare, prepare,” said Dr. Gibson.

The evening was structured to allow students to network with mentors across various fields over casual dinner conversation, then break into sessions by major to gain more insight into specific industries. For many students, the big questions centered around how the mentors started their career path, what they learned along the way and what advice they would give during the search for jobs and internships

Some students asked more personal questions: “ I asked the mentors who their favorite employees are and what makes them stand out compared to all the other employees that work for them," said Jacqueline-Ann Willsey, ’17. "Getting that feedback helps me think about the unique qualities I possess and what I should be highlighting in an interview,”