KSU’s Department of Career Planning and Development Connects Students With Employers
By Cory Sekine-Pettite
In today’s competitive academic and corporate environments, both hiring managers and graduates entering the workforce need every available advantage to find the ideal match. Leadership at Kennesaw State University’s Department of Career Planning and Development (DCPD) not only are equipping students with the knowledge, skills, and experiences to meet an evolving workforce head-on, they are proving to local companies the benefits of partnering with the university on internships, career fairs, and other programs.
According to KSU, career readiness is a significant part of the student experience for every Owl. Students have access to career coaches, career fairs, internships, and more. Here’s a breakdown of some of the opportunities students had this year:
- Career coaching: More than 5,000 appointments this past year helped students choose a path, sharpen a résumé, practice interviewing, plan a career change, or explore where their major can take them.
- Experiential learning credit: KSU processes and supports academic credit so students earn recognition for the time they spend working in their field through internships and co-ops.
- Nine to 12 campus-wide career fairs a year: These fairs drew up to 10,000 student visits and more than 800 employers. The fairs cover a number of career types, from technology and engineering, to healthcare, education, government, and nonprofit work.
- Career curriculum and classroom presentations: These build career development into the courses students are already taking.
- Smaller-scale employer connections: These networking events include industry nights, recruiter tabling, mock interviews, etiquette dinners, and alumni panels that put students in the room with employers in their fields.
- Owl Trek site visits and on-campus job shadow days: These events give students a day inside a real workplace. Past hosts include Norfolk Southern, Brasfield & Gorrie, and Chemence.
- Graduate outcomes reporting: KSU measures and tracks where Owls land after graduation, from full-time roles to graduate school, so the university can represent those results accurately.
“We expanded an ecosystem approach to career development, strengthening partnerships across the university so that career readiness is embedded throughout the student experience, rather than delivered through a single office,” says Melanie Uken, DCPD Executive Director.
KSU Partners In Success
In its most recent annual report, DCPD says it strengthens relationships with employers by creating multiple pathways to recruit KSU talent. And the results are impressive: more than 24,000 job postings, almost 43,000 active connected employers, more than 700 employer booths at KSU career fairs, and a 99-percent satisfaction rating from employers participating in DCPD programs.
In fact, two students — and their employers — shared with us their experiences. “The internship gave me the opportunity to apply technical problem-solving in real industrial environments while learning from experienced professionals,” says David Xiao, a sophomore studying Electrical Engineering who interned recently with Applied Technical Services. “One of the biggest lessons I learned was the importance of attention to detail,” Xiao, continued. “The inspections we performed helped support decisions about equipment reliability and safety, reinforcing that even small observations can have a meaningful impact.”
“The program helps us identify and engage high-potential talent early, build a strong pipeline for future hiring needs, and benefit from the fresh perspectives and ideas interns bring to the organization,” says Sherrie Epstein, Director of Talent Acquisition at Applied Technical Services. “Many interns return for a second internship, and a number have transitioned into full-time roles with ATS. We have had great success with KSU students and value our ongoing partnership with the university.”
That satisfaction is shared by Steve Nixon, VP of Development at Perimeter Floors, who says it was rewarding to watch the development of intern Denise Santos over the course of this past spring semester. “Time and time again, [she] proved exceptional accuracy with a dedication to her work. She is extremely focused and took on every task head on to the best of her ability,” Nixon says. “Denise set a very high bar for the following interns joining us in the future.”
For her part, Santos, a senior majoring in Information Systems, saw the real-world benefits of her computer coding skills after developing a Python program to help Perimeter Floors with a data migration problem. “The opportunity to apply something I learned in college to a real business environment was incredible,” she says. “My Information Systems and programming classes gave me the foundation to do a good job at Perimeter. Knowing that my coworkers could use a tool that I built makes my work feel meaningful and shows me how technology can make every-day processes more efficient.”
Yes, the DCPD’s numbers are impressive to read on paper, but when one hears directly from students and employers who have benefited from the programs, the impact seems deeper, more tangible.
“A strong internship program benefits everyone involved,” Nixon concludes. “Interns provide valuable support that helps improve efficiency, while also bringing fresh ideas and perspectives to the team. At the same time, they gain real-world experience that simply can’t be replicated in a classroom. For us, internships are also an excellent way to identify future talent and invest in developing the next generation of professionals.”
If you own a business and would like to learn more about the DCPD, start by visiting campus.kennesaw.edu/offices-services/careers/index.php.
