In spring 2025, the O’Brien Center for Career Development launched a new career workshop series called Warrior’s Edge. This four- to five-week series led by Merrimack staff, alumni and industry professionals is designed to boost career development and is open to all majors. The Warrior’s Edge has two different sections: one focusing on internships, co-ops and experiential learning and one focusing on full-time positions and post-graduate employment.
The facilitator of this workshop, Shannon Zelek, deemed this workshop a success. The program helps students prepare for applying to positions of interest.
“It’s a confidence builder,” she said. “Having students come in who are quite unsure about where they’re headed, whether that is internships or full time roles… getting that confidence built up, knowing you are ready and prepared…is what I want students to come out of the program with.”
The idea came about last year after Shannon researched similar workshops at other schools to figure out what would work on campus. After the Professional Development Retreat (PDR) in November, Shannon wrote out a proposal to the rest of the O’Brien Center team. The proposal was met with support, and Warrior’s Edge was in development.
“Ultimately, it was one of those pieces where if we don’t try it, we won’t know if it works,” she said. “We have all these LinkedIn badges to use and we have all of this content we can put together…so why not package it up?”
The internship version had five workshops in January and February, while the job version had four workshops in March and April. However, the content in both workshops was similar.
Both sessions focused on resumes, cover letters and navigating the job search through Handshake and LinkedIn. There’s an emphasis on building a professional brand and understanding how students are presenting themselves externally.
The two sessions differed in the final session, which was how to prepare for a new position.
“The internship group did a career exploration piece. We spent more time actually launching the pathway [they’re] content with…and understanding…how they’re headed in that direction,” she said. “The job piece…focused more on…negotiation and benefits…because many [students] looking for full-time roles…[need] to be well prepared to have those conversations.”
The Warrior’s Edge featured guest appearances from various companies to offer their expertise in career development. There were a few Merrimack alumni who participated as well, such as Debra Vasques Burneau from JSR Life Sciences and Sean Black from Northwestern Mutual. Bringing more employers and alumni to campus is something that Shannon looks to continue in the future.
“Having the alumni coming back, talking about their personal experience of…[being] a Merrimack student [and] going into that post graduation life…is really important,” she said. “There was also extreme value in bringing in our employer partners…I know…there were students who got interviews as a result of Northwestern Mutual being here…[and] people who got interviews with ALKU after being here for the jobs workshop.”
The future of Warrior’s Edge may include workshops for specific schools, as Shannon wants more students to be able to benefit from this program.
“One element we’re currently considering is whether we want to…drive [this program] in school or industry-specific ways,” she said. “For example, how science is looking at different ways to prepare students to offer internships. I’m not sure if we’ll end up there this fall, but it’s an option.”
Shannon currently predicts October as the start of the Warrior’s Edge workshop for fall 2025. For students interested in participating in the Warrior’s Edge next semester, be on the lookout for an email from the O’Brien Center at obriencenter@merrimack.edu.
