Yale Athletics Hosts Winter Career Night

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Yale Athletic Department hosted a Career Night for student-athletes on Monday night in the John J. Lee Amphitheater in Payne Whitney Gym. The Career Night brought representatives from a variety of industries, including advertising, law, medicine, finance, and consulting to speak to Yale student-athletes about summer internship and job opportunities as well as to give general career advice. The event is held once each semester.

For student-athletes, the event offered a unique opportunity. While many career fairs and information sessions held by Yale Undergraduate Career Services are often held during the afternoon, the Athletic Department Career Fair was held at night, allowing all student-athletes to attend without interfering with practice time. Furthermore, the event’s casual dress code allowed athletes to easily transition from practice to the Career Fair.

The event also gave many former student-athletes the opportunity to return to Yale and discuss their post-graduate career experiences. For some of these company representatives, Career Night and similar events provided them with the connections necessary to gain employment, and, as such, they see Career Night as a way to give back to the Yale athletic community.

Former Yale offensive lineman Darius Dale ’09, who now works as an analyst for Hedgeye Risk Management, a New Haven-based research firm whose CEO is former hockey captain Keith McCullough ’97, especially saw the night as a way to give back to Yale.

“This is how I got my job last year, so it’s nice to be on the other side of the table,” said Dale.

Former baseball player Matthew Fealey, now working for the New York Mets, felt similarly.

“I came [to Career Night] when I was a student,” said Fealey. “It’s great to have an opportunity to talk to someone who you feel you can relate to.” Fealey added that due to the nature of his industry, many of his co-workers were athletes in college.

Other recruiters said that they came to the Career Night not only to give back but because student-athletes usually make very attractive candidates for prospective employers. Employers typically value dedication, hard work, and an ability to work in a team-oriented environment, all prerequisites for being a successful student-athlete. Roushig G. Kalebjian, the Director of Recruiting for the Nemec Financial Group, a division of Northwestern Mutual, said student-athletes are often ideal job candidates.

“Athletes are awesome because they’re coachable and motivated,” she said. “From an employer’s perspective, that’s something we look for. What more can you ask for than a smart, self-motivated person?”

Mark Sekac from Park IP Translations, an intellectual property and patent translation firm based in New York, echoed this opinion.

“We think that student-athletes have a particular attitude for hard work and excellence,” said Sekac. “Athletes really fit well into our corporate culture. With the fast-paced growth we’ve experienced and our entrepreneurial nature, the common denominator between us and a place like Yale is hard work.”

A variety of sports and career paths were represented at the Career Night. Alumni that were members of the football, field hockey, baseball, swimming, lacrosse, crew, soccer, gymnastics, and track teams were present.

Companies represented included:
Bain & Co.
Blue Devil Capital
Carlson Capital
Corporate Playbook
Credit Suisse
GE Capital
Goldman Sachs
J. P. Morgan
McKinsey
Nemec Financial Group,
NY Mets
Northwestern Mutual
Park IP Translations
Research Edge
RSR Partners
Sagard Capital
Stryker Medical Products
UBS
Winchester Capital
ZS Associate

Report filed by Trey Chandler ‘11, Yale Sports Publicity