Career Services

We get you, and we’ve got you. You can expect individualized and dedicated support from career services, and someone who understands where you’re coming from, and your values.

You might have an idea of what you want for a career, or you might not. In either case, we’ll look at your strengths, weaknesses, values and goals and explore your career options or discuss next steps in your chosen career. We’ll work with you on your resume, LinkedIn profile, networking, and get you ready for interviews and internships.

Tip: A successful student meets with career services multiple times.

The keys to our success, and yours, are internships, our professional communications course, and alumni connections.

Internships

“If I had only one line to put on the Career Services page on the website, it would say internships are key.” – Mrs. Jodi Smolen, Director of Career Services at LCM

Mrs. Jodi Smolen will meet you at orientation and urge you to come into career services right away (your first semester). Why? She’s focused on setting you up to get an internship, and early.

“If you want to get a job after you graduate, you need to build your internship experience throughout your time at Lander. Without it you’ll have a much harder time landing that initial job.”

Internships are crucial. And by extension, depending on your career choice, research or volunteer work. It’s an opportunity to get experience, build your resume, see if the company and field are right for you. Many companies hire for their entry-level positions from their interns. If you do well in your internship, it’s a great pipeline to your entry-level job.

Tip: The internship is the way you get in the door for all the large firms. If you want to work at JP Morgan, you have to intern there.

“Mrs. Smolen tracked me down in the hall to ask if I signed up for career fair. She said I needed to meet with companies and work on internship now. I was like who thinks about the summer in September?! But she was right. She worked with me on my resume, prepared me for the career fair, helped me with my internships. I wouldn't have a job lined up for after graduation without all that.”

Moshe Zinn

Internship Spotlights

LCM Student Chosen for Prestigious Internship

Summer Internship Program Provides Early Field Experience for Future Dentist

Professional Communications Course

Our required Business Communications Workshop prepares you for success in the workplace. Designed for Lander students by Mrs. Jodi Smolen, it covers how to best present yourself in a job interview, and in the office with your coworkers. We understand the community you come from and specifically designed this class to help bridge the gap, navigating interviews and workforce with different cultural norms.

A kind of mini-improv class, you’ll rehearse and practice and learn how to best answer the questions you’ll get on job and graduate school interviews, like “tell me about yourself”, “have you ever held a leadership position?” “how do you work successfully on a team? “tell me about a challenge you had to overcome.” You’ll learn how to carry yourself and exert confidence without arrogance.

The Interview

You’ve done all the hard work. You’ve volunteered. You’ve taken the MCAT. You’re an EMT or a firefighter or have worked in the emergency rooms. You’ve done all this work and now it’s time for the interview. We work with you, in the communications course and one-on-one to make sure you can present yourself clearly, in the best light, with confidence.

“I had a student come in with a perfect 800 math SAT score. He wanted to be an actuary. We worked on his resume and he got two interviews for a summer internship at actuarial firms. He came to me and asked “what do I do in the interview?” He's never had a job interview. I worked with him for a full hour, explaining how to present himself, talk about his past experiences in a positive light, articulate his strengths. He had two interviews and received two offers. It's awesome.”

Mrs. Jodi Smolen, Director of Career Services

Tip: If you change majors, it’s time to meet with career services! We’ll adjust your job search approach and resume for your new career.

Alumni Connections

One of Lander’s biggest strengths is our alumni network. Lander grads have gone on to successful careers yet remain very involved with the school and are happy to help our students as they start on their own careers. Though you can often find alumni on campus and can reach them in many ways, we have two formal programs with our alumni to help our students.

Mentoring Program

You pick a field, and we’ll pair you with a Lander alum in the career of your choice for one-on-one mentorship. The alum, usually 10 or 15 years ahead of you can talk to you about the field, what to expect, and how to get from where you are now to where you want to be.

“I had a student who wants to be a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, and we found a cardiothoracic surgeon to mentor the student.”

Alumni Career Dinner Series

Each year we host a series of dinners where alumni come back to campus to speak with students, over a Carlos & Gabby’s dinner, about the field and answer questions from students, like “Do you still really learn Torah now that you're a doctor? How do you make time for that?” Each room is designated for a specific career, and we’ve had alumni who are now practicing as, or in the field of:

Nursing Home Administrators
Engineers
Dentists
Physicians and PAs
PTs
Real Estate
Lawyers
Accountants
Computer Programmers
Psychologists
Rebbeim and Teachers
Actuaries
Finance

“We introduce the alum and then we shut the door and we let the guys ask all their real questions.”

It’s an opportunity for real talk and to build connections.

Where Can You Find Lander Alumni?

Deloitte
Google
KPMG
EY
Amazon
Microsoft
Morgan Stanley
Deutsche Bank
AIG
New York Medical College
Columbia University College of Dental Medicine
Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
Mayer Brown
Kew Dental Care
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Research
The Grand Healthcare System

Meet the Director

Jodi Smolen, MPA, BFA

Director of Career Services