Calvin College students have a great career opportunity this September 28 when the first ever Calvin Networking Event at Amway will be held--and Calvin students have Calvin alumni to thank for this. Calvin alumni currently employed at Amway approached Calvin’s Career Development, expressing interest in bringing more Calvin students to work at Amway.

Laurie Lemmen, the Experiential Education Coordinator for Career Development, hopes that the event will help current students make connections with alumni at Amway that will lead to their hiring for internships or full-time positions.

Laurie upholds Amway as a company with “some really amazing opportunities” because the availability of employment variety is quite high. Amway hires over 100 interns every summer in areas such as research, IT development, internal and external communications, public relations, web design, and more.

The company also offers opportunities for significant personal development and overall employee satisfaction. “They treat their employees very well; they have a culture where employees are very well respected. There are also a lot of global opportunities so people get the opportunity to travel through work and live abroad,” Lemmen said.

For students who are unsure if this event will benefit them in the long run or affect their chances for an internship or job with Amway, Lemmen said, “it never hurts to try. [The alumni] want to help you. This is your opportunity to get out there and make connections when you’re still a student. They want to network with you.”

“Alumni are very excited to meet students and they told me they have the ability to hire, so it’s definitely a great opportunity,” Lemmen added.

Even for students not seeking an internship or job, this event still holds educational benefits. Lemmen said, “This is your chance to learn about another part of the world you may not have otherwise been able to check out.”

Students interested in attending can RSVP by emailing their name, major, year at Calvin and résumé to Lemmen at lbl3@calvin.edu. The event is free to attend, but space is limited and is first-come, first-served.

For students attending, there is a training session offered for the event on September 24 in the Commons Annex Board Room to provide tips and advice for how to prepare for and conduct themselves at the networking event.