Numerous students attended the Meet a Career Mentor dinner Nov. 13 in Mulcahy Gymnasium.

Upon arrival, registration and check-in, the students sat at different tables according to their major or area of interest.

All kinds of majors were represented at the event including: mass communication, business, education, management, science, technology and criminal justice.

The event began with a speech by Roseann McSorley, the keynote speaker. McSorley told stories about how she eventually became Chief Administrative Officer at JP Morgan Chase and Company.

Students then were greeted at their tables by Iona alumni who had different careers in each of the majors. Each table had at least two mentors, and students were able to ask all kinds of questions to each mentor.

A broadcasting and entertainment table had alum Peter DiDonoto.

DiDonoto currently works as a sports manager at Sirius Satellite Radio. He told students about his time at Iona College and some of the things he did while attending.

“I remember being part of WICR and the Ionian,” DiDonoto said. “At the time both the station and the offices were right next to each other. So I would go from doing a radio show to then going right back to working on an article.”

Students listened intently to the advice they were being given and had the opportunity to ask questions of the mentors.

One piece of advice that the students received was to make sure their social media presence depicts their positive traits.

“Clean up your social media if you have anything that might not be appropriate,” George Manessis, a Senior Line Producer at CNBC, said. “Get rid of it because most of the time when going out for that internship before the interview you will be googled. You will be googled so that interviewee can get a little bit of knowledge of who you are.”

Students also asked if GPAs matter for an interview.

“As long as you are not doing terrible or failing then you should be okay for internships,” DiDonoto said.

This event also provided the students with an opportunity to network.

The mentors gave their contact information to the students, so that they could be reached for whatever the reason.

The night was concluded with open networking where students could visit any table they liked and talk to other career mentors from other majors.

“This night really helped me understand what I have to look forward to after college and how to possibly get an internship,” sophomore Wilde Diaz said.

The event helped students acquire some knowledge about their desired majors that they did not know about before.

It also helped students make connections for possible internships and job opportunities in the future.

The mentors also stressed the importance of proper etiquette after landing the internship or job.

They also stressed the competitive nature of the workforce. They stated that coming out of college and expecting a job right away is unrealistic.

Some mentors talked about how it took them a while to find the career that was best suited for them.