Students from the University of Georgia’s Graduate School and Professional MBA Program got the opportunity recently to explore careers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta as part of the Graduate School’s Experiential Professional Development, or xPD, initiative.
The site visit included students from a variety of disciplines: 12 are pursuing MBAs and the others have backgrounds in public policy, economics, instructional design, math, statistics, computer science and related fields.
“I find it is really helpful for students to visit and see a workplace firsthand to picture themselves in that space, especially an organization like the Atlanta Fed which is so unique and so close to Athens,” said Andrew Crain, director of the xPD initiative, which supports graduate student career development in industry, government and nonprofits by hosting panels, workshops and site visits.
A substantial number of doctoral graduates – well over half in some disciplines – go into industry, government or nonprofit jobs each year, so a bigger focus is now being placed on experiential learning in UGA graduate education.
The Atlanta Fed is part of the central banking system of the United States and plays a role in all of the Federal Reserve System’s functions. Careers at the Federal Reserve require applying technical expertise to strategic problems, making the Atlanta Fed an ideal partner for skilled UGA graduates — dozens of alumni currently work at the Fed.
C. Erika Mané, a doctoral student in the Learning, Design and Technology Program in the College of Education’s career and information studies department, spent a full day at the Atlanta Fed listening to presentations about career opportunities, networking with current employees and participating in a museum tour.
“I spoke to a UGA alumnus who has been employed at the Atlanta Fed for a short time,” she said, “and he was able to give me a lot of information about the work culture and how the Fed invests in and cares for their employees.”
“This was a great event not only for our students to learn and connect with the organization, but also for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta to discover the best talent and potential workforce from this opportunity,” said Sue Joe, assistant director of career operations for the Executive and Professional MBA Programs.
