Lyon students give added depth to area businesses

September 5, 2006

Lyon College students have a lot to offer area businesses, and matching those students with jobs, internships and shadowing opportunities is a high priority for Greg Maloney.

Maloney, Lyon’s director of career development, said he wants students and area businesses alike to be aware of the resources available to them.

“Many companies prefer to hire employees who have the kind of liberal arts education they get at Lyon College,” Maloney said. “It gives them a broad educational background that impresses many companies.”

Sometimes employers are hesitant to hire applicants with MBAs because those degrees typically have such a narrow set of specialized skills geared to the particular discipline they studied, Maloney said. That’s not an issue with an employee with a liberal arts educational background, and companies often find it more profitable in the long term to train these types of employees with the specialized skill sets they need on the job, he added.

Maloney is responsible for duties such as meeting with students on campus, organizing events, and visiting with employers throughout Arkansas to help introduce them to Lyon students and what they can offer the workforce.

He also focuses on working with private and public agencies to expand the range of training opportunities available for Lyon’s students.

Internships are an ideal way to match a broad-based liberal arts education with the pragmatics of the business world, Maloney said.

“More and more, research shows that experiential education plays a crucial part in students successfully securing employment or being accepted into graduate school admissions,” he said.

Maloney and the Career Development staff assist students with things such as choosing a major, discovering career interests, locating internships, creating resumes and much more. But he stresses that those services are offered as a “partnership” with the students.

“We’ll do it with them,” Maloney said. “We don’t do it for them.”

What the Career Development office does provide is individual consultation, access to professionals in the student’s field of interest, extensive career resources and ongoing career workshops.

For more information on internship opportunities, contact Maloney at 870 698-4207.