By Matthew Muir | Staff Writer
Many freshmen arrive at Baylor University sporting the iconic “I know where I’m going” shirt. Now, the Baylor University Career Center wants students to leave Baylor saying “I know where I’m going next.”
The career center’s new “I know where I’m going next” campaign targets graduating seniors with the goal of preparing them for life after graduation. The campaign was designed as a way to funnel students to the experts and resources the career center has to offer.
Shelby Cefaratti, marketing and communications director for the Baylor career center, said the desire to “bookend” the Baylor experience served as the inspiration for “I know where I’m going next.”
“‘I know where I’m going’ is kind of a Baylor tradition and getting your ‘I know where I’m going’ T-shirt,” Cefaratti said. “We wanted to honor where are students are going next because coming to Baylor — [it’s] such a special place, and you get such a great education; so where are you going to take this education and go out into the world.”
The campaign’s main goal, Cefaratti said, is reaching out to graduating seniors and raising awareness of the resources available at the Baylor University Career Center.
“[The campaign is about] starting in the spring being so proactive, trying to get in touch with every single student,” Cefaratti said. “I want it to become part of the vernacular… Going to the career center is just part of your experience… We’re hoping that they come to us, but if they don’t, we’re going to come find them.”
Houston senior Morenike Tajudeen works as an intern at the Baylor University Career Center. Having seen the campaign’s development, Tajudeen said she believes it will have a positive impact on seniors like herself.
“I’ve been working here for over a year, so I’ve seen the growth in our campaigns,” Tajudeen said. “I believe that having this resource allows me, as a senior, to have personable people to speak to candidly about some of the issues that seniors have figuring out what’s the best step for them to take next,”
The Career Destination Survey provides the career center with data on what seniors plan to do after graduation. Cefaratti said driving traffic to this survey is one of the campaign’s priorities.
“We get all sorts of information [from the survey,]” Cefaratti said. “If someone is still seeking [a job,] we’re going to reach out to them and say ‘What can we do to help you find a job?’ If they found a job we want to celebrate them. Do they need help with salary negotiation… benefit negotiation… figuring out what to wear? If they’re going to graduate school, have they worked on their CV?”
