1926-2026: 100 Years of Transforming Possibilities Into Realities!
Career Services is excited to celebrate 100 years of helping students on their career journeys. From our origins as University Placement Services to today, Career Services has evolved with the times to connect students with the employers they most want to work for. Click through the slideshows below to travel through some of our history!
Learn how you can help shape the next 100 years.
Our Beginnings
In 1926, University of Pennsylvania trustees voted to establish the Placement Office. Its mission was to assist undergraduates with finding part-time work, and seniors and alumni with full-time placement.
Under the direction of Clarence Clewell, Professor of Engineering, the Office dramatically increased outreach to recruiters in the business, education, and governmental sectors. Within two years the Placement Office had established 3000 contacts with firms and during 1927-8, Penn students secured 2000 part time and 587 full time jobs.
The challenges began almost immediately, when the stock market crash of 1928 ushered in the Great Depression. Penn’s career office helped students and alumni weather that storm…and all that were to follow, and helped them flourish even further under clear skies.
News articles from Penn leadership, discussing how to seek employment, December 1932. Their advice to “budget time” to balance out course work and the job search has not changed nearly a century on. 
An original placement file for Penn alumna, Katherine Griffith, Class of 1936. The file contained her work history, transcript, and letters of recommendation. 
Penn students could sign up for internship interviews in-person at our office in 1984. 
Long before online portals, we had a hotline to the credentials office where students could check on the status of their letters of recommendation and references. 
For students exploring internships, our career library had open postings available for perusal. 
The 1989 edition of our Undergraduate Newsletter, full of program-specific career information. 
The 50 Top Occupations, as listed by our office in 1993 
A 2009 report from the Wall Street Journal reporting on the rise of virtual internships. 
Senior Associate Director Julie Vick provides her career expertise on the new trend in virtual hiring from 2010.
Careers Through the Years
Career development has changed drastically in the years since our office was founded.
Originally called the University Placement Office, our charge was to fill actual quotas from employers who needed us to match graduating students with open positions in their organization.
As times changed, we moved towards providing access to job postings that students could apply to themselves. On Campus Recruiting became a major part of our operations, as employers came to campus to interview Penn students in one of our private suites.
As the internet began to dominate, our services moved online. Students now have access to more job postings than ever and recruiters can choose to conduct interviews on campus or virtually.
Career Services on the Move
Our office has moved locations more than a few times, but has always managed to be a hub of activity. Our first office was located at 3405 Walnut Street, in what is now the Jaffe History of Art Building before taking up residence in Houston Hall, the oldest student union building in the country. Eventually, the office expanded to include advising offices on 40th & Chestnut Street.
The 1980s saw the creation of the university’s first career center. Located in the lower level of the McNeil Building on Locust Walk, the Lauder Career Center housed Career Services, MBA Career Management, and an expansive, full service On Campus Recruiting Suite.
Our newest home brings us back to the 40th Street corridor.
3405 Walnut Street circa 1926. 
The original Placement Services office in the now Jaffe History of Art building, circa 1926. 
The office, now called Career Planning and Placement, eventually moved to historic Houston Hall. (Postcard, circa 1940s.) 
By 1984, CPPS occupied two space on campus. Advising was done at 40th & Chestnut… 
…while recruiting was handled in Houston Hall 200 (now home to the Office of Student Affairs) 
Our recruiting office, 1984. 
The Career Services library was home to a vast collection of print resources from career advice books to study guides to job postings. It remained in service, in various locations, through the 2010s. 
The exterior of our advising office at 40th & Chestnut, 1984. 
Opened in 1988, The Leonard A. Lauder Career Center, located in the McNeil building, housed Career Services, MBA Career Management, and their shared On Campus Recruiting Suite until 2025. 
Named after Penn alumnus and Trustee Emeritus, Leonard A. Lauder, our office at McNeil provided cutting edge recruiting spaces. His mother, famous makeup maven, Estee Lauder, was in attendence for its grand opening. 
The Career Service staff outside the Lauder Career Center, circa 2002-03. 
The Lauder Career Center included a vast On Campus Interviewing Suite, shared by Career Services and MBA Career Management. At its peak, 50+ interview rooms would be filled each day by employers. This picture shows the suite in 2009. 
The OCR suite after an extensive renovation in 2010. It remained in service through 2025. 
The On Campus Recruiting team in 2009: Marlene Cohen, Erin Lemons, and Debra Smiley Koita. 
Our newest home office, located at 3935 Walnut Street, which opened in January 2025. 
Our front desk located in suite 300. The new multi-purpose space in our office hosts a wide variety of career programs for Penn students. 
Career Sevices and McDonald’s have a shared history! In the 1980s, both were located in Houston Hall. Now, in 2026, Career Services is two floors above the McDonald’s at 3935 Walnut..
This article from 1951 details a career conference for women co-sponsored by the Career Planning office and Gimbel Brothers, a famous Philadelphia department store of the era. Penn graduates were highly sought after for sales roles at the store. 
A memo from 1945 from our founder, Clarence Clewell, outling two “post-war” challenges: alumni returning to the work place after serving in the armed forces, and the establishment of a placement center for women, many of whom had entered the workforce during the war. 
Career Services has always led the way in civil rights and the work place. Starting In 1984, we partrnered with Bob Schoenberg, soon to be the founder of Penn’s LGBTQ Center, for a series of workshops about being out in the workplace. 
LGBTQ career progamming in 1989. 
AIDS Awareness week career progamming for faculty and staff, 1989. Career Services continues to educate the Penn community beyond the students we serve about the changing landscape of work. 
Career Services partners with Penn First Plus to prepare first generation students for the job search, including a networking workshop in advance of an alumni mixer.
Careers for All
Career Services at Penn has also had a rich history of increasing access to career development, seeking to serve those who previously lacked resources.
The end of World War II saw the need for specific services for veterans and women in the workforce, something founder Clarence Clewell foresaw as early as 1945.
In our 1976 Annual Report, then director Art Letcher noted that it required “twice as much time … for counseling and developing career programs for women, [minorities] and liberal arts students…they need help in realizing their strengths and …marketable skills.”
The 21st century brought an increased focused on supporting first generation and low income students. Penn’s global reach has expanded Career Services’ reach as well – connecting with international employers and supporting our visiting international students, as well as domestic students seeking employment abroad.
Career Services Now
Penn Career Services has always been an office of innovation, and that continues to be true today…
An aerial view of the Hall of Flags during our Fall career fair, CareerLink. 
In partnership with Penn’s Undergraduate Assembly, and Graduate and Proffesional Student Assembly, our headshot booth provides self-service photos for professional needs. 
Since 2011, we’ve produced the weekly CS Radio podcast. From in-depth career advice to interviews with faculty, staff, and alumni, we cover topics aimed at Penn students, but relevant to all career seekers. Starting in 2025, the podcast got its own studio and added a video element so it can be watched on YouTube! 
Fall 2025: In partnership with Google and Handshake, students were treated to free ice cream as a back to school treat! 
Each summer, Career Services hosts the Career Champions Conference for Penn faculty and staff, so that they can not only better understand the career search their students are going through, but also expand their own personal development. 
Penn Career Services hosted a regional meetup for Handshake partner schools in April, 2026. 
Penn students can visit employer offices in Philadelphia, New York, and Princeton on our Employer Trek Program. Featured here is our 2024 Masters Public Policy trek to Mathematic in Princeton. 
Employer treks provide students the opportunity to visit workplaces and learn more about employers recruiting Penn students. Here, grad students visit Cubist, an asset management firm in New York City. 
Penn Career Services has been embracing new media for nearly two decades. Our extensive YouTube channel offers recorded workshops, interviews, and short form content to the world. 
The latest career tool (and challenge) has come in the form of A.I. Currently, students can engage with an AI chatbot on our website to surface resources and job listings, or use the resume review tool in Handshake to ensure its a perfect match to the job they’re applying to.
Shape The Next 100 Years
Penn alumni are one of the greatest benefits that current Penn students can leverage as they explore career paths and navigate their professional development. In celebration of the Penn Career Services Centennial, we are creating the Career Advice from 100 Alumni Compendium, a curated collection of insights from Penn graduates.
