What’s the secret to the Center for Career Exploration’s success? Its people.

Exploring specific career pathways

The most substantive area of specialization is the center’s new industry professional pathways program, offering students industry-specific advising, opportunities, and resources in five areas: technology and tech ventures, finance and consulting, arts and media, science and engineering, and careers in the common good.

“With these pathways, our target was really bringing in folks who have experience talking with students about careers, but even more importantly we wanted them to have professional experience in the industry areas that they’re helping to build up,” says Donato.

When it came to hiring staff to support the technology and tech ventures pathway, Viktor Gavrielov ’15 fit the bill. Since graduating from Brown, Gavrielov has accrued professional experience in everything from small, startup ventures to large corporate enterprises, like LinkedIn.

“Our career counselors are fantastic at helping students explore and refine their wide range of interests,” says Gavrielov. “They offer phenomenal guidance and support throughout the various stages of career exploration. The pathways deans work alongside them to add another layer of support, providing students with industry-specific insights, resources, and advice. Together, we ensure students receive comprehensive career guidance, as well as access to specialized knowledge as they explore their chosen career fields.”

Since his hiring earlier this year as the Karuna Assistant Dean of the College for Careers in Technology & Tech Ventures, Gavrielov has made great strides in building up resources and programs—developing workshops and building relationships with faculty on campus, including the computer science department. This fall, he’s hosting a series of presentations during the tech recruiting season to help prepare students to enter that job market. 

“Especially as an alum, I know what these students are going through and what they can expect in this industry,” says Gavrielov. “I can help them with something as small as talking through a bug in their code as they’re doing a technical interview or something as complex as mapping out courses and training to take for a specific job title.”

Expanding opportunities for experiential learning

Experiential learning has been a tentpole of Brown’s career services for decades, tapping into the Brown network to provide students with hands-on, real-world experiences. With growth in staffing, the center is putting more resources into helping students find and pursue these learning opportunities with deeper intentionality.

“Our job is to help students prototype their career path with internships or research opportunities,” says Sean Thompson, assistant dean of the college and director of student exploration. “We help to make them aware of the many experiential learning opportunities and the professional environments they might encounter. Then, we help them reflect on what they’ve experienced with our career counselors and think about how to engage in specific industries even further with our pathways deans.”

Thompson and his team have worked to not only add more opportunities for students, but diversify offerings to ensure that students find ones that meet their individual needs, interests, and journey of career exploration. Over the last year, Brown provided more than $5 million in direct funding to more than 1,200 students to engage in internship and research experiences around the world through the BrownConnect Collaborative SPRINT Award program.

In seeking these new opportunities, the student engagement team found a trove right in their backyard: campus jobs. This past year, the team has worked with departments across the University to revamp many student employment positions, making them more impactful in helping students develop career readiness competencies.

“We think having a job on campus is a high-impact practice. We can create this environment and set of experiences or circumstances so students can develop professional skills while also earning financial support while they’re here at Brown,” says Thompson.

Reflecting, connecting, and exploring

With such a wealth of resources, it can be hard for students to know where to begin. For many, their first touchpoint with the career center is with a peer career advisor. Continuing Brown’s tradition of embracing a student-driven approach to learning, peer career advisors are student advisors who assist with everything from crafting resumes and cover letters to preparing for interviews to identifying campus resources.

“With every student I’ve engaged with, it really feels like there’s a transformation that happens in those 15 to 30 minutes that I’m with them,” says Aliza Kopans ’25, a peer career advisor. “They’re able to take a deep breath and know how to proceed—and, more importantly, know they can come back here.”

Both peer career advisors and the center’s full-time staff are an essential part of its focus on reflection, connection, and exploration. Through personal reflection, students can discern and understand how their goals, interests, skills, and values relate to career possibilities. By connecting within and beyond the Brown community, students gather advice and insights on career pathways and begin to build their network. With exploration, students gain experience, build confidence, and develop professional skills as they map out their career possibilities.

It’s an idea that has already begun to take root with Kopans as she enters her final year at Brown.

“The significance of this new approach is starting to hit me even more as I think about life post-Brown,” says Kopans. “As I start to look for jobs and consider my steps after graduation, all I’ve learned from my time at the career center helps calm my nerves. Wherever this path leads me, I know that I’ve been given the tools to take on whatever comes next with an open mind, enthusiasm to learn, and a strong community of support.” 

Opening the door to possibilities

Through their work, the center and its staff hope to embed career exploration as a fundamental part of the Brown student experience.

“We want to promote more conversations about careers at Brown,” says Donato. “Some may have avoided it because they thought it took away from the purity of the Open Curriculum, when in reality it’s the opposite. These conversations are not limiting students in what they should study but rather empowering them to align their courses with their own personal values and path.”

“I believe what sets Brown apart from other elite universities is the Open Curriculum,” says Trustee Jim Esposito ’90, P’25, P’27, who made a leadership gift with his wife, Jennifer, to endow the executive director position in the Center for Career Exploration. “It allows students to explore and take risks—to get outside of their comfort zone. That same mindset of the Open Curriculum is applied to the work in the center. Brown has always embraced that spirit of exploration in terms of academic pursuits, and I am excited to support and advocate for exploring careers in the same way.”

From his perspective as a Brown parent and trustee, Esposito applauds the alumni, parents, and family members from around the world who are volunteering and giving back through the center to share their knowledge and networks with Brown students. “Both of our sons have participated in several career information sessions and talks with alumni coming back to campus. Their eyes were opened to consider different opportunities.”

Esposito recognized that the University’s strategic investment in the growth of the Center for Career Exploration would “create the leverage and scale” needed to transform its approach to career exploration to reflect Brown’s distinct educational experience.  

“We’ve all seen the benefits of the Open Curriculum,” he says. “When students take courses outside their concentration, they are opened up to new possibilities. When we are consistent with the Brown ideals that we all embrace and apply them to the student’s professional journey, then we are on our way to doing a lot of good.”