Last Saturday I was able to attend a networking and resume review event at Pitzer hosted by their career center and the Claremont Entertainment Media (CEM) group. CEM is an alumni/networking organization for 5C graduates who entered the entertainment industry after college. In addition to hosting events on campus for current students, their online presence allows alumni to connect professionally and celebrate each other’s accomplishments. It was a wonderful opportunity to not only meet professionals who got their start at the 5C’s but also to connect with other students that are interested in the media industry after college.
After a hunting through the cactus beds at Pitzer on a sleepy Saturday morning I finally found the event! We were welcomed with sign in sheets, name tags, and pizza (so it was certainly off to a great start). We then entered a large conference room where some students and alumni were already chatting. I joined the table closest to the door and met an alumni from Scripps. I knew I recognized her name from somewhere and quickly realized that I had seen her LinkedIn profile while scanning a list of Scripps alumni in entertainment. Telling myself silently not to be creepy because I already knew a little about her, I introduced myself to the table. We all soon fell into an easy rhythm talking about life at Claremont and eventually moving in to career aspirations and goals. And here is the part that I always find fascinating. I love to hear people’s career stories have evolved. I always find that people get very animated when talking about their path because of how deeply personal it is. It was very exciting and comforting to me to see a successful Scripps alumna working in the entertainment industry who got her bachelors in Media Studies and Theater, like me. At one point in the conversation we were asked to share our big “someday” goal. If we hold any position in the entertainment business, what would it be? Something I was struck with as we moved around the table to discuss our aspirations was the diversity of interests. It was really eye opening to see how many opportunities for so many different kinds of people were available. Each person put their own spin on traditional careers as well. People wanted to be everything from comedy writers for TV, to production managers for film, to working in social media.
After a while we rotated tables and eventually moved into resume review and got one on one help tailoring our resumes for entertainment. I found the experience rewarding for a number of reasons, like getting to know fellow students and hearing alumni stories. I was a little nervous at first about showing up at an event alone but I am definitely going to be on the lookout for events like this in the future!
