British donors will finance a London immersion trip for 20 students who are interested in global careers.
By Barbara Gutierrez
UM News
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (June 22, 2016) – A group of University of Miami students will witness the complexities of globalization first hand, including the fallout from the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, when they travel to London for the inaugural international Toppel Career Crawl.
The Toppel Career Center has partnered with a pair of London-based donors to provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience for 20 students. The lucky group will take part in a London Career Crawl, an immersion trip aimed at providing industry insights, networking opportunities, and cultural outings.
“UM aims to develop students into leaders of the world, so we hope the London Career Crawl will play a part in helping them build meaningful global careers,” said Christian Garcia, associate dean and executive director. “Many of our students express an interest in working abroad, and it’s our job to help them develop the skills, knowledge, and connections that will take them there.”
The London Career Crawl will be held the week of the fall academic break, October 16-21. Sophomores and juniors who are interested in participating must apply by August 31.
The immersion trip is generously supported financially and logistically by a British couple who are members of the UM Parents Council. Colin Potter is founder and partner of Global Legal Search, an executive search company established in 2002, and his wife, Clare E. Woodman, is global chief operating officer for Institutional Securities of Morgan Stanley. Their son, Thomas, is a rising junior at UM.
The couple, first-generation college graduates who came from humble beginnings, hope that the educational trip will include students who otherwise would not have the opportunity for such an experience, said Potter.
“Both my wife and I were fortunate to have had the opportunity to work in different countries during our careers,” said Potter. “We wanted to give some UM students, particularly first-generation college students, the opportunity to see a major international city like London and to meet people from a diverse range of global organizations. Hopefully the trip will inspire them to aim for the stars when it comes to their own career ambitions.”
While in London, the students will be able to explore career paths and opportunities in a global work environment and engage in interactive visits to employer sites, including Morgan Stanley’s London office, the London office of New York-based White & Case, an international law firm, as well as a London advertising agency and other major business organizations in a variety of sectors.
Students also will visit professional hubs such as the London Stock Exchange, attend receptions with UM alumni and other professionals living and working in London, enhance their career readiness by learning what they should do now to successfully transition into a global workforce after graduation, and discover what it’s really like to live and work abroad.
The Toppel Career Center launched the Career Crawl initiative in April 2016 with two domestic crawls, one in downtown Miami, which focused on nonprofits, and one in Washington, D.C., where students learned about government and public service.
The London Career Crawl is open to undergraduate students in any University of Miami school or college who will be sophomores or juniors at the time of the trip. There is no cost, though students are responsible for securing and purchasing the necessary documents to travel abroad, i.e. passport and/or visa.
Interested students must submit an online application by August 31, 2016. Students chosen to move forward in the selection process will give a brief presentation/interview on how they hope the experience will enhance their career readiness.
For more information and to apply, students should contact Hilary Kautter Allsopp at [email protected].