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SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION NEWS

SJMC alumni help Drake students find jobs


By Rebecca Lee
The state of the nation’s economy may be in distress, but Drake students are not without hope in search for employment. 

Thanks to a fresh initiative by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s Junior National Advisory Council — the DrakeMediaGigs blog — alumni and students now have a vehicle for networking between alumni and students. 

Cale Johnson, JO’07, helped to spearhead the blog, which is open to all students and alumni and free to subscribe to through e-mail or an RSS feed.

“The concept is simply media-related gigs from the Drake community, for the Drake community,” he said. 

The site is a product of the Jr. NAC’s collaborations in spring 2008, when it became apparent that several Drake alumni had open positions in their companies, but had no easy way to spread the word to Drake students. 

DrakeMediaGigs was designed to facilitate that communication, linking alumni and students to career opportunities. The Web site can be especially beneficial to seniors, for whom graduation is quickly approaching.

“Finding employment after graduation can be a daunting task and an intimidating process for graduating seniors,” said student body president Kevin Kuhle. 

“This Web site makes that whole process much easier and streamlined, giving Drake students an upper-hand over others in the job hunt during these tough economic times.” 

The true success of DrakeMediaGigs is yet to be determined, but the future looks bright only three weeks after the project launched. 

Johnson reported nearly 100 subscribers and a wide array of job opportunities from alumni all over the country, ranging from unpaid internships to executive level positions.

For more information or to receive DrakeMediaGigs updates or submit a job opportunity to the site, subscribe at DrakeMediaGigs.Wordpress.com.