Profiles

Jane Schildroth, Pomerantz Career Center

	Jane Schildroth, director of corporate and community relations in the Pomerantz Career Center. Photo by Tom Jorgensen.

For someone who as a youth couldn’t unload her Girl Scout cookies, Jane Schildroth seems to have gotten the hang of making a strong sales pitch.

“It is somewhat funny—I was never able to sell my allotment of tickets to the high school play, that kind of thing,” says Schildroth, director of corporate and community relations in the University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center. “Now my job is to sell The University of Iowa to employers.”

It’s working. Schildroth is making inroads with companies and organizations across the country, which has led to more employers hitting the career center’s numerous annual career fairs. Thousands of interviews are taking place on the UI campus, as employers come to the career center facility to discuss job opportunities with UI students. Career center staff stay busy preparing students for the big day with mock interview sessions and career exploration meetings.

Schildroth took a break from last-minute details for the spring job and internship fair to talk with fyi about her busy itinerary, her own career path, and what sort of role faculty and staff can play in helping students find their calling.

Is there ever a slow day around the Pomerantz Career Center?

I think it’s safe to say this is becoming a nationwide career center rather than regional. We have made a very strong effort to improve and increase our outreach to employers—these employers come from all over the country. We’ve done a good job advising students, and a lot of innovative programs have been designed here. We are able to go to conferences, make presentations to others in the career field. Centers of comparable size want to know how we’re doing things—it feels good to have a reputation as a leader.

What is your role within the career center?

I am the director of corporate and community relations—I’m the scout for new opportunities for University of Iowa students. I spend half of my time in Iowa, and I travel to several major cities in the Midwest and beyond. This academic year, I’ve made trips or have scheduled upcoming visits to Milwaukee, Chicago, New York City, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, Denver, and other cities in the South and Southeast.

No stone left unturned.

It’s getting to be that way. Some employers have never considered recruiting at The University of Iowa, so it’s my job to “sell” the University of Iowa student. That’s an easy sell, as we have outstanding students and several top-notch programs. Some employers know they need to recruit our students but haven’t taken that first step; others are here but want to ramp up their efforts. It’s my job to build and maintain these relationships.

So how many places do you reach?

A typical career center might do 20 employer visits—it’s tough to get out of the office when you have a whole raft of things to take care of as a director. Last year, career center staff, including me, did 297 employer visits. This year we’ll surpass 300. That makes an impact. I wish I had kept track of how many employers say to us, “No one has ever done this sort of visit!” That’s great, as we want to be unique.

I kept hearing there were interviews happening here. My first assumption was that these were “practice” interviews. Not the case, is it?

One of the goals when I’m out visiting is to get more companies to conduct interviews here. A lot of people—faculty, staff, and students, unfortunately—don’t realize actual job and internship interviews are happening here in our students’ backyard, if you will. We’re on pace for 5,000 interviews here this year, and we did 4,400 last year. Our space helps tremendously—employers and students are impressed.

What sort of role can faculty and staff play in your work?

Faculty and staff can feed us suggestions of places to visit—it’s great when they do this. For example, faculty in departments relevant to the entertainment industry are suggesting organizations to visit during an upcoming trip to L.A. These faculty/staff suggestions help me put together my schedule, and the advice is greatly valued and encouraged. And it never hurts to point students in our direction to take advantage of the career preparation resources we provide—exploration of interests, mock interviews, job listings, and so on.

Do students have a voice regarding the employers you scout?

We have a place on our web site for students to submit desired places. It doesn’t mean I’m going to get them a job, but it allows us get the door ajar, and they can get the job on merit—which UI grads often do.

Do you ever see students who have their career plans figured out the minute they walk in the door?

Sometimes students come in pretty sure of their career choice—and they’ll end up switching three times. Most students walk in with no definite idea. We determine where the student would like to go with his or her career, and then develop strategies on how to get there.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I always wanted to be an educator. I taught high school English and speech. I coached the debate team, the speech team, I directed the plays—yeah, that was me! I became a guidance counselor, and that led me to the University scene. I have been at Iowa since 1990.

As someone working in a career center, I have to assume you like your job…right?

Most of the time! The variety is great. I would like to have more opportunities to mentor young professionals—I spend more time traveling now, so it’s hard to do that as often.

Working the career fairs has its own set of challenges. Sometimes employers show up thinking they’ve registered when they haven’t, or students will forget to clip the tags from their brand-new suits—we run around with scissors in our pockets. Whenever you’re in a student development role, it’s always exciting.

by Christopher Clair

Past Profiles

John Geweke, Tippie College of Business/College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Bill Casey, Daily Iowan

Pat Winokur, Carver College of Medicine

Tom Dean, Office of the President