Commonwealth Students Create Connections with Sevita

Sevita, formerly The MENTOR Network, is a leading provider of home and community-based specialty health care. And they are looking to hire Commonwealth grads.

Sevita has approximately 55,000 individuals in their care, ranging from children to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including those recovering from brain injury, children in foster care, and adults and children with autism. The organization was recently represented at Commonwealth University's latest Health and Human Services Career Connections Expo in an effort to hire its grads.

As part of her role as University Recruiter & Internship Program Coordinator, Shannon Roche enjoys building the relationships necessary to recruit from regional universities. She recently expanded that network to include Commonwealth and hoped to add CU grads to Sevita's ranks of approximately 45,000 employees, all committed to helping individuals to live and thrive in their communities.

"Getting on campus and meeting students face-to-face is one of my favorite parts of the job," explained Roche. "When my company learned Commonwealth University would be holding a Human Services Career Expo, I was excited at the opportunity."

Roche said the event was well-organized. She was impressed with the type of questions the students had prepared and their eagerness to hear what it was like to work for Sevita. She also appreciated the fact that students attended the expo from majors that are not typical of the Human Services industry.

"A few Legal and Finance students stopped by and were looking for information on what it was like to work at a human services company" recalled Roche. "I was happy to help."

Roche stresses that attending career expos are important for students, even if a particular expo doesn't directly align with one's major, and even if a student isn't looking for employment right away. Rather, they are places to explore opportunities and create connections.

"It's always rewarding to offer an internship or employment opportunity to a student I've been working with," explained Roche. "I have met students at career fairs and they expressed they were not currently looking for jobs, however, we stayed in touch and Sevita was able to hire them after they graduated."

Roche says that she finds exceptional value in her work, especially when it comes to supporting students and new grads in their careers. She considers the relationships she builds as a privilege, and highly recommends Commonwealth University to other recruiters also seeking new relationships.

"I found Commonwealth University of PA faculty specifically to be very friendly and their students to be very inquisitive," recalled Roche. "If you are looking to build a pipeline for recruiting and better relationships in your community, I highly suggest Commonwealth University!"

Interested in adding YOUR company to the Commonwealth network? Email us at recruit@commonwealthu.edu.