Since 2013, Maggie McDearmon has spent her time helping mass communications students build their careers and prepare for life after college. Her passion for supporting others has allowed her to make a huge impact on both VCU students and the business world. In 2023, she was awarded the College of Humanities and Sciences Excellence in Humanities and Social Sciences Advising Award. Over the last decade, she has enjoyed seeing students graduate from VCU and go on to lead successful careers, especially alumni that come back to share with her what they have accomplished.
Read on to learn more about Maggie.
When did your career begin at VCU and what brought you here?
I started at VCU in 2013, so I've been here for a little while and what brought me to VCU was I knew I wanted to work with students in some kind of capacity. I originally thought I was going to go into K-12 or high school counseling. I went to grad school at VCU and got my master's in counselor education. My first job out of grad school was in a career counseling space, so I got two years within career counseling in more of a higher education capacity and loved it. So when the position at VCU became available, I ended up interviewing for it and thankfully got it!
What is your day to day role at VCU?
My role as the career development advisor within the Robertson School of Media and Culture includes a lot of things. I work with students in individual meetings and group sessions. The idea is to understand what students' needs and interests are and balance that with career programming. This is usually related to resume development, cover letter writing, understanding what careers are available, how to go about a job search, how to apply for a job, interviewing skills, salary negotiation and overall professionalism.
I also am the internship coordinator so I facilitate internship experiences between students and employers/ internship providers. And then in the last couple years I have had the opportunity to teach a couple classes. I've jumped into teaching “Career Minded” which is one of the core courses and I find that very rewarding because it's working with students in a different capacity.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
I think that one of the most beneficial parts is seeing the full circle moment. So from seeing students kind of come in and being open to exploring different avenues and ideas, then seeing them get very passionate about a certain area, applying for internships, being successful in those and moving on to applying to jobs. The really awesome thing is when I get to see alums come back and share experiences with current students or offer to be mentors.
What is something about you that people you see on a daily basis may not know?
I guess it would be that I’ve played competitive volleyball for about 30 years. I played in college but I play in adult leagues three times a week now. It's something that I'm really into even though, you know, I'm kind of past the competitive league range.
What is one of your favorite spots in RVA that you would recommend to a new student or staff member at VCU?
I mean, I love the outdoor space around Richmond. I think it's very unique to Richmond. So, you know, anything walkable from campus is really fun. You can go down to the river, like Brown’s Island or Belle Isle. I also think Hollywood Cemetery is really interesting and it's like a couple blocks away so you just kind of happen upon it.