BW Career Services is providing a free “Career Trek” opportunity at Westfield Insurance on Nov. 22 from 9 a.m. through 1 p.m. The field-trip includes lunch and transportation to Westfield’s Campus.

Students with an interest in event planning, hospitality, and general operations have been encouraged to sign up for this experience. The day will include tours and job shadowing at the Westfield Inn, Blair Conference Center and Westfield Country Club, along with a Q&A with a panel of Westfield employees. Westfield Insurance and Westfield Hospitality is part of Westfield insurance and it is in Westfield center in Medina County.

“Much like our new major in Hospitality and Tourism Management, [the event] includes a variety of majors,” said Beth Ehrbar, associate director of Career Services. “We are promoting this beyond just the Hospitality and Tourism Management major to students in a variety of majors.”

This opportunity is for students beyond just the Hospitality Management major.

“[The trip is open] to students in business but also in the humanities, social sciences,” she Ehrbar. “We know that there are a lot of students that develop an interest in event planning and so the ‘flash-tern-ship’ areas are the areas of Westfield Hospitality include things like corporate dining, culinary event operations, hotel management, the business areas of analytics, guest services and so on and also golf operations management and event planning as well.”

While attending the field trip, “students will get to meet professionals in these different areas in the morning and shadow them in their spaces, and then we’ll meet for lunch provided by Westfield Hospitality and debrief about what students have learned,” said Ehrbar.  The event is also be “[promoted]… to first-year students and undecided majors –students that might not have a major yet but are interested in these areas.”

Students will “break out with the different professionals in the areas of event planning, club management, corporate dining, and things like that,” Ehrbar said. “Professionals will be available in each of those different areas, so when we break out if [students] have a preference for event planning, they can do that. If their interests are more towards culinary or hotel management, they can do that.”

The goal for Career Services “is to provide a variety of what we call ‘Career Treks’ throughout the year –throughout the semester,” said Ehrbar. “I think that for the student, someone who is starting their career, it’s nice to see the space.”

Career Advising is continuing to strive to help students see the practical application of their major, she said. She said she wants students to dip their toes into a career field before they make any other decisions.

“This trip provides an opportunity to see what’s happening behind the scenes,” said Charles Campisi, associate professor for the school of business. “The experience will offer students with a look into a potential career path and the opportunity to see what it will be like in that field.”

Westfield Hospitality “has a great need for seasonal part-time employees as well in these areas, so these could be opportunities for students either during the semester or summer to build their resume in the area of hospitality management,” said Ehrbar.

Career Service’s goal is to always help students explore and clarify what they want to do in terms of career paths and get to see all these different options they have. Westfield is a top-notch employer in our community, she said.