Illuminating the paths of Oakland University students, Stefen J. Welch, OU alumnus and trustee, sat down for a fireside chat on career development on Feb. 11. As Vice President of Public Affairs for the Detroit Pistons and a prominent figure in local DEI efforts, he advised students on how to advance their careers with a degree in communications.
Members of the Oakland Post moderated the chat at the Habitat, where, to open the conversation with freshmen and alumni alike, Welch confessed to feeling lost in his last semester of college.
“So I said, ‘Okay, let me figure out how I can do something different.’ I still like telling stories. I still like engaging with folks,” Welch said. “And so I had an opportunity to intern at a public relations firm in Bloomfield.”
It was at the metropolitan YMCA in Detroit where he learned the foundations of his career — how to tell stories, persuade groups and connect with people. At OU, he channeled those skills into career pathways.
“Classes such as multicultural communication helped me understand: one, my passion for people, my passion for engagement, my passion for access and two, turning that into my own professional story where I could actually not only have it as my passion, but also something that I can do on a daily basis,” Welch said.
A Detroit native, the trustee wanted to focus on helping the city under the motto “things with the city, not for the city.” In that same vein, he invited students to diversify their classes, internships and volunteer opportunities for a holistic immersion in their community.
With a degree in communications, the speaker illustrated the diverse, adjacent and unexpected career paths students in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) can take. CAS Director of Philanthropy, Lori Posey, explained how this is particularly important for students embarking on interdisciplinary fields.
“Sometimes it’s hard for students to see the career paths that are available to them, because our degrees aren’t necessarily profession-specific, right?” Posey said. “A nursing degree is easy to see that you are going to be a nurse, whereas a degree in communications doesn’t always say that you’re going to be a communicator.”
A degree in communications not only allowed him to work for the Detroit News and figure in the Crain’s Detroit Business Notable Leaders, but also to meet his wife and advance DEI in Michigan. Beyond the roles and titles, finding a job is about telling a story with your resume, he explained.
“Find out who the hiring manager is in that role,” Welch said. “Make sure your LinkedIn is up to date. Make sure you apply for that role and send that hiring manager or that recruiter a message on LinkedIn.”
Advising to start applying for internships in January, the speaker also recommended students to engage on campus to network with people and learn soft skills. Through anecdotes, Welch demonstrated that a major, while important, is less a defining factor and more of a tool to display your skills.
“Oftentimes, people think you have to major in sports management to work for a sports organization. That’s not true. The majority of folks in our organization do not major in sports management,” Welch said. “You look at our COO, who is an attorney as well; he was a history major at U of M. You look at Melanie Harris, who’s our president of business operations. She wasn’t in sports management.”
As students asked questions near the end of the talk, Shay Bailey, chair of the student engagement committee who put on the event, exhorted students to follow Welch’s footsteps.
“For those who are graduating,” Bailey said. “The best way that you can support future OU students is by making sure that you stay connected, that you rep the Grizz and that you’re mindful of what’s happening on campus and how it connects to ways that you can serve by way of your time or your talent.”