Many students use the days after graduation to catch up on sleep, celebrate with friends, or begin their travels home for the summer. But for more than 50 current students and newly minted alumni, the first week of May saw them hitting the road for a very different reason: our annual Career Week Trip in Washington, DC.
The week kicked off at the Hall of the States with an opening breakfast and keynote address from Uchenna Mbawuike (MPPM ’22), a management analyst within USAID’s Performance Division, situated in the Office of Management Policy, Budget, and Performance in the Bureau for Management. Students then broke off into smaller groups to attend exclusive site visits and panels around the nation’s capital.
This year’s site visits, most hosted by Pitt alumni, included the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), U.S. Department of State, Dexis Consulting, Intellibridge, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and the World Bank. Students were introduced to the work being done at each site, with time often set aside for questions and tours, giving students an inside look – and in many cases a direct point of contact – at some of the most sought-after workplaces around the city.
Pitt Washington Center, the school’s DC office just blocks from the White House, served as the venue for other parts of the week’s programming, with recent alumni coming to share their experience building careers in fields like nonprofit management, trade, and international development. Sessions ranged from large panels to intimate group conversations, with students receiving honest advice about topics like moving to DC, crafting the perfect resume and cover letter, and negotiating salaries.
“The DC trip let me see what not only having a career, but living in DC is like,” said Brenna Nowlin (MPIA ’24). “Being in the area also allowed me to reconnect with an alum who works for the FBI and gave me the chance to tour the FBI headquarters building.”
The week’s meetings were bookended by two social events, with students and DC-based alums enjoying food and drinks at a kick-off happy hour on Monday night and a farewell reception on Wednesday. Alumni from throughout the school’s history came to share stories and contact information with the trip’s participants, while Dean Slotterback and members of the current Board of Visitors also attended Wednesday’s festivities before their annual meetings began on Thursday.
"Going on the DC trip has allowed me to connect with alumni and form a network in DC that I can rely on once I move down there,” said recent graduate Aakash Gupta (MPIA ’24). “This experience really showed me that our school’s alumni are willing to assist not only current students, but other alumni as well.”
The Career Week Trip is one of our favorite parts of the year, but Pitt's presence in DC is certainly not limited to one week. Students who are interested in pursuing their studies in the heart of the nation’s capital are encouraged to learn more about the DC Semester Program, pursue internship opportunities in the summer months with the help of our Career and Professional Development team, and draw upon the school’s extensive DC alumni network to build connections of their own. For more information on all things Pitt and DC, contact Megan Varn, Manager of Washington D.C. Initiatives, at mev70@pitt.edu.