New Career Services Adviser Dedicated to Alumni

Margie B. Cherry is the new assistant director of alumni career services, a position focused completely on alumni.

“All of us at Lafayette — students, faculty, administrators, and staff — benefit greatly from the deep, devoted involvement of our alumni in the life of the College,” says President Daniel H. Weiss. “Our graduates lecture in the classroom, provide internship and externship opportunities, interview prospective students, volunteer their time and talents in fundraising, and assist in many other ways. We are delighted to introduce this new service as one way of expressing our gratitude for their loyalty and generosity and hope that it will be helpful to them both personally and professionally.”

Cherry, who has more than 10 years experience as a career development specialist, is providing individual career coaching, career assessments, and workshops. She has developed a web-based series of seminars on résumé skills, career re-entry and transition, as well as graduate and professional school planning. The series began in February and will be ongoing based on topics requested by alumni.

“I’ve always been involved with adult learners and particularly enjoyed being a corporate outplacement counselor,” says Cherry, who holds a bachelor’s in dynamics of human performance management from Immaculata University and a master’s in counseling psychology from Rosemont College. She has led career and life coaching workshops since 2003. Before coming to Lafayette, she provided career development and job placement services for New Choices, a state-funded program for career re-launchers and people in transition at Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, Pa.

Cherry, who has already met with nearly 60 alumni, says, “I love listening to people, having them talk about their strengths and what they feel passionate about. It gives me great joy when I see them focus in on a job possibility that will be fulfilling and not just a job.” Her motto comes from Aristotle: “Where talents and the needs of the world cross, therein lies your vocation.”

Other career services for alumni include the AlumNet database of contacts, the job vault, and a group on LinkedIn.