Staff Profile
Joseph Du Pont
Joseph Du Pont, Esq.
Director, Hiatt Career Center
Joseph Du Pont took the helm of the Hiatt Career Center in September 2007. Joe came to Brandeis from Teach For America, where he created the career office and served as a vice president of the organization. Previously, he worked in employer relations at the career office at NYU, and prior to NYU, Joe practiced law for 6 years.
How have you been enjoying your time at Brandeis?
I love it – the administration has been extremely supportive of the career office, and I am extremely grateful to President Reinharz and SVP Jean Eddy for that. In the last year, the career office has been completely renovated, we have added six new staff members, we have made big strides in raising awareness among employers about the value of our students, and we have vastly improved our student services. Hiatt has also raised a significant amount of money to fund student internships, which has proved to be very popular.
I have set the bar high for Hiatt and while we have a long way to go, I am pleased with our overall progress.
How has the economic downturn affected Hiatt in particular?
It would be an understatement to say that the economic downturn has made it more difficult for students to secure jobs, which makes us our work tougher. Students have to be that much more polished, knowledgeable and prepared when they enter the job market and we take our role in that process extremely seriously. Despite the downturn, we have been fortunate enough to have a lot of interest from employers regarding our students. This year we will be holding 8 career fairs – including 2 this spring. We also have a steady stream of employers visiting the campus for interviews.
What general career advice can you offer students?
First, I would encourage all students to come to Hiatt, regardless of your course of study. Yes, we review resumes and help prepare students for interviews – and that work is important - but the meat of what we do is to help students discover their career passions. Sometimes students find it daunting to start thinking about their career options and that is where we can be really helpful.
Think about it. How much time have you spent thinking productively about your career choices? People often make career decisions somewhat arbitrarily (e.g., I write well and my dad says I would be a great lawyer, so I will go to law school). How much time have you actually spent educating yourself on your career options? For most of us, the answer is precious little time. In some sense that should be liberating. If you haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about your career, it shouldn’t be surprising that you may need help sorting things out and we have a lot of resources to help you do that.
If you are currently looking for a job or internship, don’t give up and don’t be afraid to come to us for assistance. It may take longer than last year to secure something, but we can help you develop a strategic plan to make you a strong candidate for the jobs, graduate programs, and internships that interest you.
What is the worst interview question you were ever asked?
When I was interviewing for my first law job, I was asked “If you were a vegetable, what vegetable would you be, and why?” I refused to answer (not the best tactic). Not surprisingly, I didn’t get the job.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I love to cook, read, play sports and coach my kids. My son may be firing me soon though. I am the coach of his third grade basketball team and we scored only one basket in our first game. We had a dramatic improvement in our second game – we scored 4 baskets.