They make a way. - Maryland Institute College of Art

14
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Foundation year is so named because it is the
cornerstone that begins growth as a creative
professional while at MICA, but it by no means
ends there. Sophomore year starts with a push
to help students start to begin laying out a
career course, structured to accommodate the
sometimes divergent, sometimes parallel paths
of fine artists and designers. They learn to
professionalize their portfolios, document their
work, and develop their resumes, biographies,
artist statements, and web presence. They are
taught to use campus resources to search for
internships and connect with employers. And
they begin to put definition around the body of
work that will soon differentiate them. As their
career goals come into greater focus during their
final years, students develop presentation skills,
begin to compete for residencies, grants, publication
and exhibitions, learn how to network extensively
to connect with industry catalysts, and prepare
for life as an entrepreneur or a member of an
organizational team.
The professional development process at MICA
has two equally important arms. While the faculty
mentors students, helping them choose or refine a
career path and plugging them into their extensive
networks, the Joseph E. Meyerhoff Center for
Career Development takes a more prescribed
approach to career planning.
Over the past year, the Meyerhoff Center has
worked to increase its capacity to link students
with employers and launch their careers while
still in school. The year saw a 46% increase
in the number of student sessions with career
counselors, who specialize in fine arts or design
and media, and who have also been certified to
administer the Myers-Briggs personality test to
help students determine what they really want
to get out of a career. Students can also work
directly with fellow students who have successfully
gained work experience and have offered themselves
as peer career advisors. In addition, they can work
with a staff member who specializes in Fulbright
and Jack Kent Cooke program application
submission preparation.
Students can earn academic credit for internships,
a crucial part of the career development process,
and the Center works to connect students with
opportunities and prepare the students to seize
them. The MICA Network portal is a free online
database listing opportunities from employers
across the US and allowing those employers to
search for MICA students who fit them. April
2012’s “Connect” career fair was attended by
463 students and alumni, up 54% from 2011, and
recruiters from companies including Nickelodeon
Animation, Discovery Communications, Weber
Shadwick, and Urban Outfitters. The Career Center
staff also works with faculty to host mock interviews,
bring alumni back to share career perspectives, and
deliver dozens of in-class workshops each year.
From the center’s webpage, Students and alumni
can access “how-to” videos on everything from
documenting work, developing a portfolio website,
and job searching, to dressing for an interview,
researching grant opportunities, and pursuing a
graduate education. The College also spent much of
the past academic year developing a customized
version of the Behance website, through which
students can create an online portfolio to showcase
their work. Also during the past year, MICA
became one of the first colleges in the country
to launch a website through Kickstarter, an online
tool that helps individuals present and secure
funding for projects. Tens of thousands of dollars
have been invested in the more than 30 projects
by MICA students, faculty, and alumni that have
been successfully funded.
The internships open
their eyes. If you want
to understand what
your options are when
you graduate, you
need to go out there and
test out this world of
work, to make contacts,
to find mentors,
to expose yourself to
different things.”
MEGAN MILLER
Director of the MICA Career Center