Careers in The Arts Panel was a great success!

On April 3 students gathered during Community Hour in the Black Box Theater, for a panel discussion on Careers in the Arts. The panel consisted of a renowned music journalist, a career advisor who specializes in fashion careers, and a professional pianist. Students learned how to start preparing for their dream careers while in college, the importance of networking, and what it takes to be successful in a career that may be a bit nontraditional. The panel was then followed by a performance by John Jay’s own Debonair Steppers and networking over refreshments with the event’s speakers.      

Graduate Student, Employer & Alumni Networking Night

Monday March 24th at 6:00pm we were joined by graduate students, employers and alumni for an evening of excellent networking and socializing. The event drew a lot of people and was a big success. It took place at the Anya & Andrew Shiva Art Gallery in John Jay College. Not just did we have a spectacular space, but the speakers provided us all with a lot of information and we enjoyed some fantastic art and food as well.

Our keynote for the night was Mr. Osvaldo Cruz. He is the Director of Management and Budget at the MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). He shared his experiences working for the Bloomberg administration and up to where he is today. The other speakers were Ms. Kirsten Ohlson, Special Agent and Coordinator for New York Metro InfraGard Member Alliance, FBI; Ms. Flor Perez, Assistant Director of Human Resources at NYC Business Integrity Commission; Mr. Henry Perez, Special Agent at United States Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General; Mrs. Shannon Castang-Feggins, NYS Court Administration; Mr. Steven T. Campbell, President at Corporate Security Resources, Inc.; Mr. Daniel Cirino, Senior Federal Air Marshal, New York Field Office and Federal Air Marshals Service and Ms. Patricia Araujo, a Federal Mediator at US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. All these amazing individuals contributed to a great night.

Keynote Speaker Mr. Osvaldo Cruz addresses the crowd.

We had a successful raffle at the end of the night with some very excited winners, and thanks to the MPASA organization as well as the Student Council we were able to hand out bags to most of the attendees.

The event was a great success and showed proof of the hard work everyone put in to put it all together. The venue was perfect and made for a very classy event where everyone was able to mingle, network as well as just sit down and just catch up. At the end of the night people were having such a good time that many didn't want to leave.

Attendees at the Employer & Alumni Networking Night.

A great successful evening!

"Life After John Jay" for International Students

On March 20th, the Center for Career and Professional Development had together with the International Students Association organized an event for international students.
The event took place during community hour in the eastern end of the student dining hall and was called, "Life After John Jay".
The focus of the event was to inform the international students at John Jay of their various options as they graduate as well as introduce them to some of the key people that work at John Jay and are here to help them.


We had a panel of experts which consisted of Laurie Woog, an immigration attorney; Ruth Kamona, University Director and CUNY International Student and Scholar Services; Sandrine Dikambi, International Student Manager and Elaine Thompson, International Student Specialist. These amazing women provided some valuable advice about various visa options as well as their own personal experiences navigating the U.S. immigration system.


About 30 international students attended and had an opportunity in the end to ask questions to the panel as well as enjoy some refreshments and mingle with one another. The event was a great success and the first of many for the International Student Association.