Preparing for a career can be intimidating, but at Kenyon it now comes with its own rewards — even before a student lands the big job interview.
The Career Development Office’s Rewards Program, which began in August, offers those who use its resources the chance to earn prizes and take part in extra opportunities that include, for top participants, the ability to select their own alumni mentor.
The program works by automatically awarding students points for everything from running their resume past a CDO advisor to attending a networking event. This then qualifies them for regular raffles giving away gear from the likes of GoPro, Sony and more.
“For a student with limited time, the amount of resources we have can feel overwhelming. This takes 24 points of engagement — different things that you can do within our office that contribute to distinctive aspects of your career development process — and students who engage with them can accumulate points at each step,” explained Lee Schott, dean for career development.
Getting started requires no special sign up, and points can start adding up with an activity as simple as setting up a student’s preferences in Handshake, the College’s career services management platform.
As students work their way through four levels of points — each with additional raffles — they follow a specific path through the CDO’s services. Their journey begins with reflection, which could be achieved just by making an appointment with a staff advisor to discuss career aspirations. This progresses to articulating experiences to employers (through activities like mock interviews and resume review); building social capital; expanding knowledge through LinkedIn Learning courses; and engaging in experiential opportunities such as job shadows and internships.
Data collected should help the CDO be even more targeted in its efforts in the future, identifying where students are most engaged in career development, where there may be gaps, and zeroing in on activities that tend to lead to better outcomes after graduation, Schott said.
Since the program went live Aug. 1, more than 600 students have participated, logging over 3,300 points across the entire campus, Schott said.
On Thursday, two students won Patagonia fanny packs in the first raffle. Future prizes are expected to include noise-canceling headphones and a nutribullet blender.
Special perks are available to students who reach certain levels. Participants who reach Level 3 can receive money to help pay for a software product’s certification exam as long as they’ve prepared by taking a LinkedIn Learning course — available for free to students. At Level 4, students will receive a public recommendation from Schott on their LinkedIn profile and have the option of joining a new alumni mentorship program.
Karen Leuthold, associate director for career development, said the mentoring program is a particularly special addition to CDO’s offerings.
“Some schools that are doing alumni student mentoring will use an algorithm, and it just sort of pairs people based on similar interests,” she said. “But we're actually going to give our students some mentor profiles and they can choose by looking through the profiles, reading the answers that alumni have given to certain questions. It has the small personal touch that is really unique to Kenyon.”
Twenty-eight alumni have signed up to be mentors so far, each committing to monthly phone or video calls with students for at least six months, Leuthold said.
The CDO Rewards Program has been well-received by students like Zoe Malouf ’25, who receive emails informing them as they reach new levels and who can check their point total at the CDO in Chalmers Library.
“All of my friends are super into it,” she said. “We just kind of made it like a game, and it’s been getting us going to more events.”
The environmental studies major with a studio art minor said she hasn’t taken advantage of the CDO’s resources in the past as much as she should. But the rewards program is helping, she said. Already this year, she’s attended a resume lab and Career in the Arts Day at The Gund, and there’s a networking event over Homecoming Weekend that she plans to attend.
“Sometimes the idea of furthering your career is a little scary, so I feel like this has been a good way to get more students involved and make it more of a fun thing.”