Student Success
Alumni and Advancement
How University of Portland Career Day Prepares Students for Life After Graduation
It’s midway through a morning workshop on personal branding and first-year student Kate Strand listens intently as Assistant Professor of Marketing Ashley Hass, PhD, breaks down the dos and don’ts of posting on LinkedIn.
“You don’t have to sell yourself and your work all the time,” Dr. Hass advises. “Tell your stories. People and prospective employers want to see your personality.”
For many students, serious conversations about personal branding, networking, and life after college don't begin until graduation approaches. But on the last Wednesday in October, all University of Portland students immersed themselves in UPnext—Piloting Your Journey, a full day of career exploration and planning.
Classes were canceled, allowing students to attend workshops, visit the undergraduate research symposium, and connect with potential employers at an internship and job fair featuring 77 regional organizations.
Ashton Summers ’17 and Morgan Armstrong ’07 were among many UP alumni who came back to lead UPnext workshops packed with career advice. Summers, vice president of Capacity Commercial Group, ran a session called Attention to Detail, Your Most Important Job Skill. Attendees barely had time to drop their backpacks when Summers revealed a PowerPoint slide showing minor work errors that can cause big problems in the workplace.
“If you misspell a client name, the message is sent that you don’t care,” Summers warned. “Small errors don’t stay small. They become your reputation.”
Armstrong, a UP adjunct business instructor and VP of People for Bigleaf Networks, led a session titled Practical Tips for Success for students preparing to enter the workforce. Earlier, she shared the UPnext main stage with Associate Professor for Communication and Media Natalie Nelson-Marsh, PhD, advising students on how to persevere and pivot in the post-graduate job market. Armstrong observed that when she was a UP student, she wished she’d known that “I was in the driver’s seat of my future and my career.”
“There are people in your life—parents, coaches, mentors, teachers, siblings—that may put fuel in the tank. They may hand you a map for part of the journey, but ultimately, the decision is up to you,” Armstrong said. “You will have options in your life. You get to pick the direction you choose.”
Connor Alexander, a senior organizational communications major set to graduate this spring, is still weighing his career options.
“Days like this can help you figure out who you are and what you want to do,” he said, eager to connect with employers and explore opportunities at the internship and job fair.
For Amy Cavanaugh, who proposed and co-developed UPnext, the event reflects a larger commitment to helping students recognize their gifts, values, and interests and discern how they might use them to contribute to the world.
“Students spend so much of their college experience balancing classes, assignments, work, and other commitments that it's easy for career exploration and reflection to get pushed aside,” said Cavanaugh, director of UP’s Career Education Center. “I wanted to create a day when students could step away from those competing demands, explore possibilities, reflect on what matters to them, and consider how their education connects to the future they envision for themselves.”
They don’t have to map out their careers alone, says Provost David Mengel, PhD. “On this day, the whole University community is investing hope in our students and our graduates. We’re inviting them to be curious, to learn, and to make connections as they begin to chart their path beyond The Bluff.”
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