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Virtual Career Bootcamp 2020

From October 12-17, eighty Stamps students RSVP’d for the 2020 Virtual Career Bootcamp event, featuring sessions led by recent alums for current Stamps students to explore the ins and outs of networking, interview skills, freelancing, and more.

Career Bootcamp is an annual event hosted by Stamps Career Advisor John Luther specifically for students at the Stamps School. In addition to showcasing the wide range of careers that Stamps alums enjoy, Luther aims to provide students with meaningful networking opportunities. “Stamps alums are very accessible to our students for networking,” Luther reports.

In 2016, Luther worked with Stamps alums Sarah Radin (BA ‘11) and Shifra Whiteman (BFA '11) to curate the first Career Bootcamp experience at Stamps. Radin was a participant in the event this year, and hopes that Stamps students left the event feeling confident and ambitious. “I hope Stamps students aren't afraid to take risks, put themselves out there and follow their intuitions,” Radin says.

Typically, Career Bootcamp happens in-person, but due to COVID-19 safety restrictions, the event was moved to a virtual format. According to Luther, the new format was helpful in broadening the geographic range of alumni presenting as part of the week-long event. “We had alums from as far away as Colorado, California, and even South Korea and Taiwan,” Luther said.

In 2020, alumni panelists discussed freelance opportunities, animation, UX/UI, and design. In one panel, alums spoke about how their dual degrees shaped their career outcomes.

Alumni participants included:

Michael Abboreno (BFA ‘16, MSI ‘18)
Anna Brown (BFA ‘14)
Dylan Box (BFA ‘12)
Brianna Despenza (BA and BBA ‘18)
Lucy Engelman (BFA ‘11)
Madeline Helland (BA ‘18)
Alex Jacque (BFA ‘09)
Rachel Krasnick (BFA ‘18)
Ellen Nelson (BFA ‘13)
Stephanie Nestorak (BFA ‘13)
Sara Radin (BA ‘11)
Gabriel Schindler (BFA ‘15)
Jiin Suh (BA ‘18)
Keyana Thompson-Shaw (BA ‘15)
Arwin Wang (BFA ‘17)

Stamps student Katherine Majeske is pursuing her BA degree and minoring in Asian Languages and Cultures. After attending the “Careers in Animation” panel, Majeske reports learning tactics for utilizing social media in connecting with alumni.

For students who were unable to join the Career Bootcamp sessions this year, Radin offers some great tips for networking that can be applied even in the context of the pandemic.

“Make a list of 10-20 people whose careers you admire and 10-20 companies you'd kill to work at,” Radin offers. “Then start making your way down the list, reaching out to people and seeing if they're open to 15 minute exploratory phone calls. Be prepared with questions and conscious of everyone's time and capacity to engage with you. Start building relationships now!”