Gettysburg College is widely recognized for its exceptional career outcomes and return on investment. It is a primary reason why The Wall Street Journal ranks Gettysburg No. 26 among the best liberal arts colleges in the nation.
We equip students to lead consequential lives. Central to this commitment is our renowned Center for Career Engagement (CCE). From connectGettysburg to lifelong career services, discover 18 ways CCE will prepare you to reach your fullest potential.
1. The Gettysburg Approach
The Gettysburg Approach builds within every student a breadth and depth of knowledge and set of enduring skills that will prepare you for a lifetime of career advancement and success.
As part of the Gettysburg Approach, all incoming students have the opportunity to align their on-campus experiences within a thematic Guided Pathway. Each Guided Pathway intersects with a four-year Career Development Pathway, which provides you with practical, hands-on career experiences and guidance.
In addition, every participating student is surrounded by their own Personal Advising Team, consisting of a Career Advisor, Faculty Advisor, Co-Curricular Advisor, and following your sophomore year, an Alumni Mentor. Your Personal Advising Team guides you through your academic progress, reflects with you as you navigate the Guided Pathways, and helps you to more fully understand the impact of your Gettysburg experience—all through 360 degrees of support.
Watch how the Gettysburg Approach has uniquely positioned our graduates to thrive in their careers.
2. Guaranteed Career-Ready Experience
Through the Gettysburg Approach, Gettysburg College guarantees a Career-Ready Experience for every student in the Guided Pathways. A Career-Ready Experience could include at least one of the following Guided Pathways experiences:
- Off-campus or on-campus internship
- Working on a long-term Center for Public Service project
- Global study and travel through the Center for Global Education
- Campus leadership role
- Faculty-mentored research
As part of your Personal Advising Team, your Career Advisor can help you identify the Career-Ready Experience from the Guided Pathways that best intersects with your career aspirations. Every student who participates in the Pathways will have the opportunity to compete for grants ranging from $1,000 to $4,000 that can be applied to a selected Career-Ready Experience.
“By bridging the readiness gap between college and career, the Guided Pathways program extends the reach and impact of a Gettysburg education,” said Associate Provost of Academic Affairs Jeanne Hamming. “The range and number of meaningful hands-on experiences offered to our students demonstrates our commitment to students during their time on campus and well beyond.
3. Career Framework
To ensure our students make the most of their four years on campus, CCE partners with them to design their Gettysburg experience through our Career Framework. While the stages of the model are sequential, you can engage any stage at any time. It is tailored to your individual needs and timeline.
The Career Framework is intended to build your knowledge and enduring skills, as well as your professional confidence, career readiness, and Gettysburg Network.
Through the Career Framework, you will:
- Discover: Learn about yourself and your career options.
- Create: Develop your professional presence.
- Experience: Pursue active learning and internship opportunities.
- Connect: Build connections across your career fields of interest.
4. connectGettysburg
From Day 1, every student is a member of our Gettysburg Network, comprised of more than 32,000 alumni around the world. Our Network spans for-profits, nonprofits, and startups; major cities of influence like Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, and Denver; and six continents. In fact, it is largely due to the support of our close-knit Network that Payscale’s College Salary Report ranks Gettysburg No. 19 among the best liberal arts colleges in the U.S. for salary potential.
The Gettysburg Network is unparalleled in its advocacy for fellow Gettysburgians, as well as its networking and mentorship platform: connectGettysburg. This platform is where members can provide career advice to students and alumni, grow their own professional network, share and pursue career opportunities, and learn more about events and ways to get involved.
5. Resume and Cover Letter Reviews
Crafting a quality resume and cover letter is often the first step on a candidate’s career journey. Our Center for Career Engagement provides you with the tools and resources you’ll need to create a resume and cover letter that stands out from the crowd. They also partner with you to finetune and strengthen your application materials over the course of your four years at Gettysburg—and even after you’ve graduated.
6. Practice Interviews
While most companies have traditionally required two or three interviews before hiring for a position, in recent years, multiple rounds of interviews have become the norm for some job-seekers.
At Gettysburg College, we have redoubled our efforts around interview prep to ensure every student builds the skills—and the stamina—to ace their interview at every step in the hiring process. CCE now provides a platform called Big Interview for students to receive 24/7 feedback on their interviews and a step-by-step framework to confidently answer industry question sets.
7. Micro-Internships, Externships, and Job Shadowing Opportunities
Valuable career experiences come in all shapes and sizes. CCE offers experiences of varying time commitments to fit within your busy schedule, including micro-internships, externships, job shadowing opportunities, and more.
Mirco-internships are short-term (20-40+ hours total), paid, often project-based experiences posted by employers across a wide range of industries. They provide opportunities for students from all majors to execute professional assignments to build and demonstrate skills, while exploring a variety of career paths. Companies and organizations have the option to post their micro-internships through Gettysburg College’s partnership with Parker Dewey.
Externships, meanwhile, provide Gettysburg students a unique opportunity to gain an insider’s view of a career field, observe on-the-job activities, and participate in hands-on learning experiences in the workplace. Shorter than an internship, an externship typically lasts 3-5 days during the summer break.
Lastly, Job Shadowing opportunities are offered every January during students’ winter break. They provide one-day experiences shadowing College alumni, parent volunteers, and industry leaders in the workplace as they go about their day’s work.
8. Graduate School, Pre-Law, and Health Professions Advising
Our talented CCE staff are trusted advisors who will help you to make an informed decision about your next step after Gettysburg. This can include entering the workforce or pursuing graduate or professional school.
CCE partners closely with students and alumni to determine if graduate school is the appropriate choice for them; identify programs that fit within their personal and career goals; assist with the application process; and review personal statements.
Today, nearly a quarter of all Gettysburg students attend graduate school or pursue further education within a year of graduation. Among all alumni currently enrolled in graduate programs, 46% are pursuing a master’s degree, while 52% are pursuing a doctorate.
9. Student Employment
There are few environments more fertile to gain valuable career experience than a college campus. At Gettysburg College, we view student employment as a unique opportunity for you to gain enduring skills from our dedicated faculty and staff before launching your career.
Nearly half of all Gettysburg students partake in student employment, typically between 5-10 hours per week. During National Student Employment Week in April, CCE honors select Gettysburg student employees for their stellar contributions to the College.
10. Handshake
At Gettysburg College, career opportunities are at our students’ fingertips. Handshake is the system you will use to stay up to date with career events and resources, appointment scheduling, on-campus employment, and job and internship searches.
With more than 10,000 employers in total, Handshake provides Gettysburg College students with thousands of job and internship opportunities and access to hundreds of events with a diverse set of employers.
11. Job and Internship Expo
Every year, CCE hosts its annual Job and Internship Expo. During the 2023-24 academic year, 40 employers from across numerous industries gathered in the College Union Building Ballroom on campus and connected with 350 Gettysburg students.
The Expo serves as a prime opportunity for students to explore full-time and internship openings, as well as for employers to recruit hardworking students and create a talent pipeline with Gettysburg College.
12. Career Immersion Treks
Gettysburg College students love participating in CCE immersion treks! These multiday intensive career programs are designed to help students explore and learn about various career fields, often in exciting locations like Washington, D.C., New York City, and even Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
Typically held in January or May, these programs include site visits to notable companies, meetings with industry leaders, case study presentations, and networking receptions with alumni, parent volunteers, and friends of the College.
13. Community GIGs
Students who partake in the Community GIGs (Give Ideas to Gettysburg) program have the opportunity to engage with local nonprofits by offering free-of-charge consulting services on an identified project.
Additionally, you gain tangible professional skills while making long-lasting connections. Community GIGs are open to students of all class years and you will receive a small financial fellowship at the completion of the program.
The program is a collaboration presented by CCE, the Center for Public Service (CPS), Garthwait Leadership Center (GLC), and Innovation and Creativity Lab. Sponsorship support is provided by PNC Bank.
14. Faculty Career Liaisons
At Gettysburg College, we seek to integrate students’ curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular experiences and help them to consider the ways they can apply what they’ve learned inside and outside of the classroom to their career. One way we achieve this is through CCE’s Faculty Career Liaison program.
Faculty liaisons are available to their academic divisions and advisees to begin career conversations, learn about CCE career-related resources, connect with faculty peers around career advising, and share current career issues with CCE.
15. Funding Assistance
The Center for Career Engagement works hard to meet students where they are and to confront any potential barriers in their path to success. One common barrier that students face is internship funding.
To support internship funding, Gettysburg College has established the Commuter Expense Fund; the General Fellowship Program; the Seibert Non-Profit Fellowship; the Bryant First-Gen Internship Fund; and, beginning next summer, the Taylor Gaw ’13 Endowed Fellowship for Computer Science and Data Science Internship Funding—each with the goal of making internship experiences more accessible for Gettysburg students.
16. Career Clothing Closet
CCE understands that many college students simply do not have the financial resources or time to acquire professional attire for an upcoming interview or career experience. That’s why they created the Career Clothing Closet.
All Gettysburg students are welcome to wear donated clothing from the Career Clothing Closet, free of charge. This ensures you will look your best and feel your best on the big day!
17. Workshops and Networking Events
CCE partners with alumni and top employers to host workshops for students on professional topics of interest that are industry-related or career-based. These workshops are held both on campus and virtually through webinars, virtual chats, and more.
Similarly, CCE arranges for networking events and meet-and-greets with industry leaders, so Gettysburg College students can learn what companies look for in new hires, how to apply for opportunities, and engage in Q&A sessions.
18. Lifelong Career Services
Gettysburg College wants you to succeed in your first job and every job after, throughout the entirety of your career.
Our Center for Career Engagement provides a wealth of career services for alumni, including counseling appointments, guest speakers and special events, resume and cover letter assistance, graduate school application advice, networking opportunities, interview preparation, various online career planning and job search tools, and so much more.
We’re here for you. Once you’re a Gettysburgian, you will always be a Gettysburgian!
Visit Gettysburg College’s Center for Career Engagement to begin your career journey today.
Posted: 03/12/24