Boerigter Center: Career Week and One Year Anniversary

Sometimes the hardest thing to think about while in college is what will happen after college. After all, most people who subject themselves to an extra four years spent in the classroom typically do so in hopes of the payoff of landing a great job. Put on by the Boerigter Center for Calling and Career, Career Week is planned to help students prepare for and take steps toward this goal.

Starting Sept. 23 with the Boerigter One Year Celebration Open House and ending on Oct. 2 with the Fall Recruitment Fair at DeVos Fieldhouse, career week will have a variety of events for students at any stage in their professional journey. The 18 total events will range from sessions to assist in discerning a major, preparing for grad school and creating a LinkedIn, to the Career Carnival, Fall Recruiting Fair and even yoga. All events are currently listed on the website Handshake, and students are strongly advised to register for the events they plan on attending. 

While the events are open to anyone regardless of grade level or major, this is the first year that the Fall Recruiting Fair will also be open to all students. “Last year we had 200 plus students attend our Fall Recruiting Fair. We have 45 plus organizations looking for interns and entry-level employees in fields such as advertising, business, engineering, healthcare, journalism/publishing, public relations, social services, software development and technology,” said Kasey Petro, Employer Relations Liaison at the Boerigter Center. The list of this year’s attending employers are also available to view on Handshake, under the Hope College Fall Recruiting Fair page. 

The website itself has been a major tool in expanding the services offered by the Boerigter Center. Last year, the Boerigter was renamed to “The Boerigter Center for Calling and Career” and moved from the Anderson Werkman building on 8th Street to a more central location on campus. 

Petro speaks on the success of these changes and the new services they bring: “Since our move to the middle of campus we have seen a dramatic increase in students using our services. New this year is appointment scheduling in Handshake. Now you can schedule online or in the app at your convenience. We also have more events than ever and are hosting the biggest Hope career fair to date.”

Of her own experience in college preparing for a career, Petro said, “I went to a very large school and it didn’t always feel like the staff was supportive and available for us as students. Boerigter is different because staff in our office take the time to meet every student wherever they are. From discerning a major or finding a mentor, to preparing for an interview and pursuing an internship, our career staff is here to walk students through every step.”

Many students appreciate the help they have received or plan to ask for in the future. “I know what I want to do but I don’t know how to get there,” said freshman Bianca Muar. “I’m planning on going to the Boerigter to help me decide what classes to take in the future.” 

Sophomore Grace Goszkowicz also recalled visiting the Boerigter. “The woman I met with was very resourceful in helping me with what I wanted to do, with providing me with different options to think about and resources to use to look at options I hadn’t thought about before. It’s good to have kind of a mentor, someone who has been through it before who hasn’t had the most straight career path to help you and reassure you about your own career path.”

In the future, plans to continue the growth of the Boerigter as an accessible, useful resource on campus are already in motion, and there are many exciting things in store. “Coming sometime this spring is a powerful Hope College network for calling and career that brings together students, alumni and friends for mentoring and experiential learning. Also coming is a new assessment tool to help link students interests and values to specific careers and majors here at Hope,” Petro said. Students are encouraged to contact the Boerigter via email at careers@hope.edu with any suggestions for future services, events or questions.