Office of Career Management inspires curiosity, connections and careers

By Margaret Farnham
Fisher College of Business

Looking back on her time as an MBA student at Fisher, Dana Sadiq wishes she would have taken advantage of the Office of Career Management.

“I think they would have been able to steer me in a direction that would have been good for my interests at the time,” said Sadiq (MBA ’04). “I had only been out of college one or two years before I went back for my MBA. I didn’t have a lot of experiences to draw from.” 

Now eager to guide the next generation of students toward career-building opportunities, Sadiq, vice president of marketing strategy for JPMorganChase, has joined Fisher’s Industry Insights and Connections Council, a group created by the Office of Career Management (OCM) last May. 

The council includes industry leaders and hiring managers who partner with OCM to identify internship opportunities, changes in hiring practices, talent needs and more. They also provide valuable insights for students as they begin to choose their career paths and connect with potential employers.

“Members of the council represent different career paths and industries, including Bath & Body Works, Nationwide, Kimble Electronics, Homage, the ADAMH Board, JPMorganChase and others,” said Kimberly Lee Minor, executive director of OCM. 

Council member Chelsea Dreven (BSBA ’10) is head of enterprise partnerships for David’s Bridal. As a Fisher grad, she sees her involvement with the council and OCM as a way to pay forward.

“Ohio State helped shape my career, and I am passionate about helping students discover not just what they can do but what genuinely excites them and gives them energy,” said Dreven. “Most of us will spend a significant part of our lives working, and if I can help even one student find a path that feels meaningful to them, that’s incredibly rewarding.”

The council meets quarterly to network and discuss ways they can provide students with useful information about recruitment, resumes, interviewing and other career needs.

“I see my role as bringing the perspective of someone who has built a career in business back to Fisher and helping students connect what they’re learning to what’s possible,” said Dreven. “Careers are rarely linear, and sometimes it takes exposure to the right person, company or experience to discover something you didn’t even know you were passionate about. I want to help create more of those moments for students.”

Through exposure to business leaders like Dreven and Sadiq, students learn what kinds of questions to ask and when to ask them as they prepare for internship interviews and job searches.

“I would have loved as a freshman to have someone tell me, ‘These are the roles that will still be here in five years, or this is an average salary,’” said Sadiq. 

She added that many students don’t know about the additional exams or certifications required for certain banking, operations or programmatic roles, particularly related to new technology. Members of the council see part of their responsibilities as making students aware of those requirements.

“The council can tell students where to put in the work and the time,” Sadiq said. “We can also talk about the importance of being a team player, being consistent and showing up, and explain that it might take a minute to get to the next level.”

Minor encourages the leaders to “be real” with students and tell them what they need to know and say to get a call back from potential employers. 

“Students who follow what the executives tell them do get responses,” said Minor.

The council is one of a handful of new career-focused programs that OCM has launched in the past year. Career Pathways, scheduled to debut in Spring 2027, will connect first-year students with Fisher’s corporate partners early in their academic careers to build career awareness and provide opportunities for industry exploration, hands-on learning, resume building and networking.

While most students typically complete their first internship during their third year, the Career Pathways program will connect students to industries and organizations during the second semester of their first year. Students might participate in a special project, shadow a company employee or engage in a “micro-internship” with organizations such as IBM or the Sports and Society Institute.

“They won’t be getting paid, but they can increase their chances of getting employed or getting an internship in the future,” said Minor. “One of the misconceptions students have is they think the Office of Career Management has boxes of jobs, and that we’re going to give them one.” 

That’s not the case.

“Instead, we’re going to give them every tool they could possibly need, including how to get connected,” she said. 

This month, students had the opportunity to connect with one of the college’s most dedicated corporate partners and employers of Fisher graduates during the JPMorganChase’s Takeover Day on campus. The event included an exclusive career fair and a unique chance for students to meet with associates and explore the various roles across the organization’s business lines.

Minor hopes more students will discover the benefit of engaging early with these organizations and with OCM, even if it’s just through the office’s ongoing Quick Stop program, a 10-minute resume and reference service that career management provides periodically throughout the year. 

“Quick Stop is a new program started in Spring ‘26 to meet students where they are,” said Minor. “It is permanently in Mason Hall on the first floor on Monday and Wednesday. Created because we are in Gerlach and most undergraduates spend the majority of their time in Schoenbaum and Mason.”

“Students can use Quick Stop to ask questions like, ‘I have an interview; can you give me a few minutes to help me prepare?’ or ‘I got an offer, and I don’t know what to do.’”

The new programs complement career development staples such as the Fisher Fall Business Career Fair, the largest recruiting fair on campus for Business Buckeyes seeking internships and full-time jobs. This year’s fair took place on Sept. 9 in three ballrooms of the Ohio Union and hosted 170 employers.

To help students prepare for the event, OCM added a new resource: the Career Fair Readiness Workshop. The interactive workshop, held the week before the Career Fair, provided students with hands-on opportunities to learn how to make the most of their conversations with recruiters at career fairs and in interviews.

“The day offered image guidance, improv for business conversations and recruiters who reviewed resumes and practiced elevator pitches with students,” said Minor.

Dreven likes to remind students that they don’t have to know exactly what you want to do when they arrive at Fisher.

“That’s part of the experience,” she said. “The Office of Career Management can help students understand their strengths, explore paths they may not know exist, build relationships and ultimately identify the work that gives them energy. I’d love for students to think about career management as a resource for career discovery, not simply job placement.”