How Students Gain Extra Career Points During Summer

With its Accelerator Program, CXD offers a diverse bundle of enrichment possibilities. "Even though students are away from campus, we can help them build their resumes, explore opportunities, and feel more prepared going into next years' recruiting season," said Bethany Walsh, CXD's director of partnerships and programming.

She added, "We're always trying to stay ahead of what students need and what the market expects of students, and how we can meet these needs during a period when they have more time."

Currently, the most popular option is to take an online course through Coursera, for which CXD has 110 licenses (valued at $400 each) that students can apply for through the Accelerator Program. This year, a license was awarded to every student who applied. (When a student finishes a course, it frees up a license for the next student on the list.)

"There's something for everyone on Coursera, no matter what they might want to pursue," Walsh said. Students are free to take any course they want, though the most common are data analytics and data visualization. "Both are skills needed in many fields, from marketing to health care to climate research and more."

Students interested in going into finance or investing might, for example, take a Coursera class in business analytics or accounting. Computer science majors can take a coding course. Education students can pursue an English teaching certificate. "We also have had students take equine health!" Walsh said.

Along with Coursera, CXD has licenses for Wall Street Prep and Rocket Blocks. Wall Street Prep is aimed at students interested in finance, offering online programs like a virtual finance boot camp and a financial and valuation certification course. Fifty Bowdoin students this summer enrolled in the program.

Built by companies McKinsey, BCG, Google, and Amazon, Rocket Blocks is an interview prep program for the technical and consulting fields, and features courses in case interviewing, data analytics, project management, and marketing, among others.

This summer, Bowdoin also collaborated with Colby College and Bates College to train students in case interview techniques. Taught by employers and alumni, these workshops provided students the chance to practice for competitive positions in consulting.

These courses and practice sessions help students pursue fields that have early and rigorous hiring requirements and interview processes. "These combined resources make you ready for the fall recruitment season," Walsh said.

She stressed, too, that the best way for students to gain professional skills is to work in the field, which they can do with financial support from CXD's funded internship program. "Experience on the job is the best way to both learn a skill and learn if you like using that skill," Walsh said. "Internships are equal parts learning about yourself and gaining experience. The Accelerator Program is a great way to gain that key skill you need to land the internship next summer."

While much of the CXD Accelerator Program might appear to be geared toward students interested in business and technology, Walsh noted that these kinds of practical skills are helpful to any career field.

"Virtually all students can benefit from business knowledge and data analytics," she said. "If you want to work at a nonprofit or really any organization, having basic knowledge about how business works is valuable across the spectrum."

"Want to be an artist? Many artists are small business owners," she continued. "Want to be a doctor? Many health care providers run their own practices. And these days new graduates in any setting, from think tanks to clinical research to environmental consulting, will be expected to analyze some data. The CXD Accelerator Program lets students boost those skills over the summer.".

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