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The educational environment had much to do with a recent career change for Carol Stavraka, MA’99 (F-M). Through her classes at FDU she became aware of other career interests. “I didn’t pursue my degree with the expressed interest of changing careers,” she explains. “I always loved school and knew I wanted an advanced degree.” Stavraka held several positions in human resources, including her last position as assistant manager of human resources for the corporate headquarters of Kings Super Markets, Inc. She came to FDU to earn an MBA, but the program did not hold her interest. “When I heard about the corporate and organizational communication MA program, it sounded like something that would suit me much better,” she recalls. “I always liked communications. I had worked as a reporter for a local newspaper when I first graduated college and had free-lanced for a few publications since then. While working in human resources I was always involved in corporate communications to some degree — whether as editor of the employee newspaper, writing policies and procedures for the employee handbooks or working with employees to explain their benefits.” Stavraka switched programs and continued to further define her niche. “The courses I enjoyed most were those with an emphasis on writing and developing written communications skills, such as Corporate Communications; Professional Research, Writing and Editing; and Language Theory and Communication. |
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“When I graduated, I looked for positions that involved full-time writing, mostly in public relations departments of large companies. I wanted to keep a corporate focus on my writing. And, having the degree gave me confidence to pursue a new line of work.” Stavraka now is an editor for DiversityInc.com and ResponsibilityInc.com, two Web-based magazines produced by Hemisphere Inc., a custom publishing company based in Somerset, N.J. “Both diversity and corporate social responsibility are closely tied to the human resources function at many companies, so I already had some familiarity with these subjects,” she says. DiversityInc.com explores diversity in the workplace and examines how diversity positively affects companies’ relationships with employees, suppliers, customers and investors. ResponsibilityInc.com reports on corporate social responsibility to companies’ relationships with stakeholders including employees, consumers and investors. The sites’ material also is published in print in Forbes and Newsweek magazines. Though she’s finished her degree, the learning process hasn’t stopped for Stavraka. “Since Hemisphere is primarily a Web-based publisher, I’m also learning the ins and outs of a dot-com company: how readership can be measured by the amount of traffic that comes to the sites, the articles that get the most ‘hits’ and strategies for increasing readership.”
Though her job can be very hectic, producing two to three new stories per day, Stavraka says it’s also a lot of fun. “I learn so much every day, especially when developing new story ideas. The best part of my job is getting to read The Wall Street Journal every day. I never had time before, but now it’s required reading.” She also finds her work very satisfying. “I truly believe in the messages that we convey on our Web sites,” she says. “Diversity in the workplace and corporate social responsibility are very important causes that I am happy to promote.” |
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Back to “A Great Adventure” |
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