Career Goals

As the student organization for students studying HCI at the School of information, it is our goal to provide career services by:

Providing assistance to students in job and internship searches through networking and experience sharing.
Helping SI's Career Services to identify and bring in target companies for HCI students.
Encouraging faculty to use their contacts to help students find internships and jobs.
Maintaining relationships with alumni for mentorship and career advice.

Career Activities

We plan several events each term related to careers and professional development in the field of HCI. To see what is happening this term check out our Events page. The following are some of our major career-related activities:

Career Panel

The career panel features local SI alumni who specialized in HCI who speak about their career paths. They describe what in the HCI curriculum has served them well, what they actually do, how they got their jobs, and more. The Fall 2004 career panel featured a client services manager from Enlighten, the Head of Electronic Systems at the Clinton-Macomb Public Library, and a Usability/Accessibility Consultant at the Duderstadt Center.

Internship Panel

The internship panel features second-year students sharing their experiences finding summer internships. Students discuss the internship-seeking process, mentoring, work experience, most relevant HCI courses, and other subjects. We seek to bring a variety of panelists who worked in different HCI positions at libraries, large organizations, academic units, and small startups in the Ann Arbor area and across the country.

Networking Event

The networking event is a joint event with SIMPLE (Society for Information Management, Policy, Law, and Economics) and SOCHI. The event is an opportunity for students to network with members of the Southeast Michigan high-tech and information technology community. This is a great opportunity to opportunity to meet many potential employers and professional connections at once.

HCI students chat with employers at the 2005 Networking Event

Portfolio Panel

SOCHI, SLA (Special Libraries Association), and SIMPLE (Society for Information Management, Policy, Law, and Economics) hosts a panel of design and usability professionals. The panelists offer tips and suggestions for building and maintaining a professional portfolio.

SI students learn portfolio do's and don'ts at the Portfolio Panel