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CLOSE-UP
Krysti O'Rourke
By Jonathan Widran
In 2010, the last time MC profiled Long Island-based Five Towns
College—renowned for its commitment to educating entertainment
professionals in the worlds of music, media, business, teaching and
performing arts—the focus was on the school’s much heralded Music
Business program.
The program was developed by Professor Susan Gaide close to 30
years ago and expanded into a four-year program under the college’s VP
Marin Cohen in 1990. Due to the evolving industry business models during
this digital age, there has been a concentrated effort in recent years
to include more studies on digital media, technological advances and the
importance of entrepreneurship.
Because of the challenging economic conditions in the music industry
and US in general over the past few years, it makes sense for the focus
to be on the powerful tools that FTC students of all disciplines have at
their disposal via the Office of Career Services, helmed by Director
Krysti O’Rourke.
As the bridge between students and companies in the industries they
seek to work in after graduation, the department’s goal is to provide a
variety of experiential opportunities to enhance academic experience
and prepare students for the workforce. These experiences include professional
seminars, cooperative education, off campus jobs, networking
opportunities, career counseling and career education.
The Five Towns College Office of Career Services is staffed by
knowledgeable personnel who strive to achieve the following goals: to
enhance student awareness, preparation and appreciation of career
activities and related work opportunities; to assist students in obtaining
employment; to develop experiential opportunities that are linked to the
student’s career objectives, like internships; to develop and maintain
contacts with individuals and organizations in the private, non-profit and
public sectors that facilitate learning opportunities; and to establish and
maintain databases and materials that facilitate the matching of student
with these opportunities.
O’Rourke places special emphasis on the value of internships, which
the music business, audio engineering, and mass communications
programs (broadcasting and journalism) list as requirements and which
film and video students can do for their elective credits. As part of her
job, she teaches two courses on internships (Internship 1 and 2), which
cover such topics as professionalism, assessment, creating resumes
and cover letters, interviewing skills, etc.
“Our office is proud of the efforts we place on individualized assistance,”
she says. “Major and independent companies contact us with a
lot of their internships and paying jobs because they know we’re a small
school (1,000 enrolled at any given time) focused on music and the arts.
Our music business program is also one of the larger ones in the country.
We also do workshops for the employers we deal with. There’s a huge
balance between representing Five Towns College and making contacts
and maintaining relationships with employers on behalf of students.
“The best advertising,” O’Rourke adds, “is a great student who does
well in their internship and inspires these companies to come back to
us for new talent. We have also continued to expand our annual career
fair to include more top industry employers. Our Career Services and
Student Activities collaborate to offer a unique, award-winning Lunch
& Lecture Series. We invite professionals from across the spectrum to
come to speak to our students in an environment that is both professional
and casual. While the luncheon features longtime professionals,
we also have a very successful Alumni Series Panel that we do with
former students who graduated more recently and who are doing well on
their chosen career path.”
While most of the students who attend Five Towns College are from
the NY-NJ-CT tri-state area, others enroll from as far west as California
and as far away as Korea and Italy.
Contact Five Towns College, 631-424-7000
8 January 2013 www.musicconnection.com