Husson's Career Cafes Are Connecting Students and Employers

Gone are the long tables separating employers from students interested in employment. In Husson University’s Career Cafe series, potential employers

and students meet in open spaces over hot chocolate, coffee and pastries. Everyone is free to chat and network with colleagues and peers. 

For students, the alternative to big career fairs represents a more personal way to network and potentially find employment.

“We’re trying to create more targeted and focused opportunities for students to engage with employers,” said Joe McGovern, the Senior Career Coach of Career Services. “The feedback we’ve received from students, faculty, and employers is that the cafe is far more advantageous for all.”

The Career Cafe series is a set of micro-scale career fairs started in 2023 that are built to target students in particular majors. While Husson’s main Career Fair, held every semester, brings hundreds of employers to meet with students in every area of the university in a traditional career fair setting, the more intimate Career Cafe series removes some of the overwhelm and challenges. 

This represents one part of an overall shift in the goals of Husson’s Career Services Office, where the event strategy is adapting to focus more on individual student’s needs. The Spring 2025 semester is the first to feature multiple Career Cafes throughout the month of March.

“This is a great career fair alternative,” said Matt Pines, the co-owner and director of Maine Teen Camp, who attended the March 4 Summer Camp Career Cafe. “The people who are coming here aren’t just students swinging by on their way to the cafeteria, they’re people who are actually seeking out specific opportunities. I’ve had more quality conversations this afternoon than I might’ve had in the past five career fairs I’ve been to combined.”

The Summer Camp Career Cafe brought together students from an array of disciplines to meet with summer camps looking for interns this summer. It was the first of three events in Career Service’s Career Cafe series for the Spring 2025 semester. On March 18, the second event was held, focusing on careers of interest to students in the College of Science and Humanities and the College of Health and Pharmacy.

The final Career Cafe for Spring 2025 will be held on March 26 from 10am to 2pm in the Center for Family Business, focusing on careers of interest to NESCom students.

— Rin Gately