Hawks Hired highlights the accomplishments of RWU graduates as they finalize the next steps in their career journeys. Kate is currently a Research Assistant for Communications Outreach at the Office of Healthy Homes. Read on to learn more about her next chapter since graduation.
What was your program of study at RWU? Bachelor of Science, Public Health
Graduation year? May 2023
Where is your next adventure? (Company/School and Role) After Graduation in June 2023, I started working in the Office of Healthy Homes at the City of Quincy Planning and Community Development Department. The Office of Healthy Homes administers Quincy’s Lead Paint Abatement and Healthy Homes Grants. I work as the Research Assistant for Communications Outreach. In this role, I coordinate and attend different Healthy Homes Programs, Manage Social Media accounts and our podcast and lastly, create graphics for the Office of Healthy Homes. These past 6 months have taught me more about affordable housing, the different aspects of a healthy home and homelessness. In past conferences I have been lucky enough to attend in the past 6 months, speakers have talked about what is currently being done in my region to help the homelessness crisis. I’ve been able to attend NCDA Conferences in both Worcester and Washington DC, workshops and classes to learn about Lead abatement and hazards, affordable housing and the homelessness crisis in the US. I am thrilled to be working for an amazing department and cannot wait for what the future has in store.
What are you most looking forward to in this new role? Coming into this role, I was really excited for the opportunity to use the topics we discussed in class and in addition, to expand my knowledge of these topics by situations and scenarios that will happen at my job. I was anxious for the new experiences I was about to have but intrigued and eager for the new people I was going to meet and what my new role would involve and where it could take me in the future.
What was the process like of landing this job/next opportunity? During my time at Roger Williams I completed three internships.One during the summer before my Junior Year, at MassGeneral Brigham’s COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic, another during the summer going into my Senior Year at the City of Quincy, Office of Healthy Homes and lastly during my first semester Senior Year at HousingWorksRI. My Major, Public Health, required me to complete two internships before I graduated. One consisting of 30 hours in my junior year and another consisting of 120 hours during my last year of college. Having the internship requirement let me explore different paths of where I wanted to go and what I want to do after college. Did I want to explore more of a scientific based path or more policy based work and humanities path? Before my second internship with the City of Quincy, I took a class with Dr.Cottle about Homelessness as a Public Health issue. This class was so intriguing and opened my eyes to possible issues that I have never truly thought about. The next summer I worked in Healthy Housing with the Office of Healthy Homes in Quincy and in the fall I began working with HousingWorksRI. The next year when I graduated in May I began working with my former colleagues at the Office of Healthy Homes with the City of Quincy with a passion I had for Housing issues. Overall the process is definitely difficult but once you find an area and place you enjoy, stick with it and don’t be afraid to ask for help and reach out to old colleagues.
Who helped you during your job search/graduate school process? There were a lot of people to thank when I was navigating through my job search journey. First, career services at Roger Williams were a huge help. I met with different peer and career advisors for resume help and interview prep! My cousin Molly, was a huge help in reaching out to different colleagues seeing if any positions were available. As well as my Public Health Professors who suggested different companies to reach out too.
What advice do you have to students who are in the process of finding a job/going to graduate school? To students who are in the job search process I would tell them not to be afraid to reach out to different contacts that the students have made during their time at Roger Williams and see if the contact has any job openings in the near future. I would also suggest preparing yourself for job interviews, meaning, look at the companies website and familiarize yourself with their mission and goals. This will help you to be more confident going into the interview and will help to make you less nervous! Additionally, be yourself during job interviews! Job interviews can be very nerve wracking but if you go into the interview with knowledge of the company and confidence you will do great!
Want to share your next steps with the CCPD? Email Kevin (kdeeb@rwu.edu) in the CCPD to learn more about sharing with us!
