Branding Your Future Event Marks a Milestone for Carey

Part-time graduate students are a different breed than their full-time counterparts. Often juggling full-time jobs along with families and burgeoning careers while carving out time for class and assignments, their needs and challenges are unique. At the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, part-time students make up more than half of the school’s enrollment.

“Brand Your Future: Part-Time Students, Full-Time Professionals,” held at Carey’s Washington, D.C. campus Saturday, May 19, marked the school’s first annual professional development conference devoted exclusively to its part-time student body. The event attracted 27 students, along with 19 speakers and panelists, including many Carey Business School alumni representing some of the leading government, corporate, and nonprofit firms in the D.C. and Baltimore region.

“Our part-time students are busy with work during the day and then class often in the evenings,” said Caitlin Magidson, career coach, Coaching and Education, in Carey’s Career Development Office. “This seemed like a great opportunity to create a powerful conference where students and alumni could take advantage of their B-school network.”

The event keynote, “Start with Your Exit,” was delivered by John Lim (MBA 2013), who emphasized the importance of an “exit strategy” – your exit from graduate school to the world beyond – as part of one’s personal brand strategy. Among the breakout sessions following were “Building a Business & Your Brand,” “Balance in B-school: Managing Competing Priorities,” and “Business with Humanity in Mind.” The afternoon’s agenda saw a series of “Industry Panels” covering finance, health care, social impact, and consulting. All of these were composed of Carey alumni representing area employers.  A happy hour/networking event capped off the day’s full slate of activities.

“It was rewarding to see so many students and alumni connecting and building relationships; the Carey community is rich with experience to share,” observed Magidson.

“The event was phenomenal because it helped connect me as a working professional to the wealth of career development resources at Carey,” said Flex MBA student James Gyenes. “Furthermore, such a strong focus on providing meaningful events for the part-time student body here in Washington validated my sense that Carey and the wider Hopkins family really want us to succeed,” he added. “The career development team did an exceptional job and I’m excited for next year’s conference!"