January 29, 2014 – TRU Alumni & Friends in partnership with the Career Education Department hosted “Working” with your BA, a networking event aimed at providing arts students and young alumni a chance to network with a room of accomplished professionals in diverse career paths.

The event saw 35 career mentors, all of whom are alumni or friends of TRU, donate their time to share career knowledge and advice with a room of over 100 arts  and journalism students.

“These events are fantastic and we are grateful for all of our alumni and friends that donate their time and expertise to give back to the University and its students,” said Arlene Olynyk, Alumni Officer. “Teaching these students the value of networking and how to network are very important life skills that we feel will enhance the value of a TRU degree and separate them from the pack.”

The second half of the evening highlighted a panel of very successful Arts grads including: James McCreath, a journalism alumnus who has gone on to a successful financial management career, Gillian Oliver, BA alumna now practicing law at Morelli Chertkow, Bill Jaswal, BA alumnus and owner of Jelly Events and Christopher Seguin, BA Alumnus (SFU) and now VP of Advancement at TRU.

The panelists were asked questions about career pathing, goal setting, and tips to finding success and happiness. A common thread among the group was that success is not found alone and that networking and relationship building are often the most important aspects to landing a job after graduation. Its was also highlighted that the average person goes through 8-12 career changes before the age of 40, so not to worry if you haven’t found that dream career on the first try.

Bachelor of Arts students are the most diverse group of any faculty. Often times, upon graduation there is no linear career path, making it very confusing and stressful for graduating students and young alumni to find a direction. However, these students graduate with a diverse skill set in everything from comprehension, communication, research skills and adaptability that many other degrees don’t offer in the same way as the arts.

The TRU Mentorship program is one of the largest in the country thanks to support from alumni, community members, faculty, staff and of course the eager students that continue to come back for more year after year.

To learn more about this program or to become a mentor visit us online: http://www.tru.ca/alumni/mentoring.html

Check out photos from this event!