Alum points to opportunities, skills, and networking at Drew for launching her career
August 2022 – During her senior year at Drew University, Delaney Redford C’22 was encouraged to apply for a job with the New Jersey Food Council (NJFC).
She pounced, got the job, and started as the NJFC’s associate director of public affairs just a few weeks after graduating this May. The NJFC was proud to have Redford onboard, and she was excited for the opportunity.
“I was excited by the prospect of making a difference in my home community,” Redford said of the position. “The NJFC is a non-profit, which, as a Civic Scholar, appealed to me, as did the fact that it was led by a strong female team.”
Redford pointed out several key aspects of her time at Drew that helped her get the job.
“Without the Drew alum connections and professors’ connections with alums, I wouldn’t have even known about the job,” she said of the importance of networking.
Next, she pointed to the transferable skills she gained inside and outside of the classroom.
“The transferable skills—a term I first learned at the Drew Center for Career Development—was one of the most important aspects of my education,” she said. “While the job I have doesn’t necessarily fit for a typical international relations major, the transferable skills I learned at Drew helped me land this job, down to my event planning and publication creating experience from being an RA, which left an impression on my boss.”
Third, Redford noted the experiences she got at Drew that helped build an impressive résumé.
“Drew helped support me participating in impressive experiences,” she said. “My internships with the U.S. Department of State, the International Rescue Committee, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, and a law office all impressed during my interview and gave me the confidence I needed to jump right into my associate director position right after graduation.”
Lastly, Redford touched on a transformative experience of learning to break boundaries and not get stuck in one “box.”
“I didn’t have to choose between being artistic and sporty or being a hard worker and also an academic,” she said. “By the end of my senior year, I had been able to play rugby, work with music in the Concert Hall, have three on-campus jobs, be an RA, a Civic Scholar, and student government senator, and still get good grades.
“By expanding my horizons through so many experiences in so many areas of interest, I was able to feel like I could be myself. This helped teach me that I didn’t need to find a job that fit my educational background perfectly, but that I needed to find a job where I enjoyed the work and where my wide range of diverse skills would be seen and used.”
