Barbara Hewitt

Executive Director

she/hers

Barbara joined Penn Career Services in 1998 and has served as the Executive Director since 2018. She currently leads the entire office as well as advises students and alumni interested in pursuing MBAs.  Prior to becoming Executive Director, Barbara served as a Career Adviser to students in the College of Arts and Sciences and in Wharton. Barbara holds a Bachelor of Arts from Dickinson College with majors in Psychology and Spanish, a masters in Counseling from Shippensburg University, and an EdD in Higher Education Administration from Penn.

Barbara believes strongly in the power of education to change lives and indeed the world, and has enjoyed focusing her career on helping students and alumni to take what they have learned while in school to contribute to society in their own unique ways.   Away from the office, Barbara spends time with her two college-aged daughters and husband, as well as a motley collection of furry friends including a shi zhu/ yorkie dog, a cat, and four occasionally noisy guinea pigs (at least when it’s their dinner time!).

All Posts

The Idealist Guide to Working (and Living) with Chronic Illness and Disability

There are myriad stories on the internet about different health experiences—be it chronic illness, disability, mental health struggles, or some combination of the three. But from the perspective of a person who wants to have an impactful career, there is …

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What Size Company Is Right for You? Here’s What I’ve Learned Going From Startups to a Fortune 500 Company

Last year, after a decade of working at small startups, I set my sights on larger, established companies: Series Bs, recent IPOs, and the Fortune 500. Recently married, in my mid-30s, and staring down a global pandemic, I was looking …

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Adapting a Nonprofit to Challenging New Conditions | An Interview with Megha Desai

An estimated nine in 10 nonprofits worldwide were negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has therefore become increasingly important that social-impact organizations be able to adapt their priorities or service models in response to crises like this one. 

I …

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7 Skills You Need to Succeed in Data Science (and How to Show Them Off in a Job Search)

Nearly a decade after Harvard Business Review called data science the sexiest job of the 21st century, becoming a data scientist is still a great career choice. The median salary for a data scientist is $122,840, according to the Bureau …

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Welcome to Spring 2021!  Updates from Career Services

It’s wonderful that we will have more students back in Philadelphia this spring.  We hope that with the vaccines more readily available our staff will be fully back on campus by the summer or fall. In the meantime, we wanted …

By Barbara Hewitt
Barbara Hewitt Executive Director
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12 Types of Workplace Discrimination | An Employee Guide

Illustration by Marian Blair

In 2017, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reports that over 80,000 workplace discrimination charges were filed, resulting in a staggering $400 million in compensation for victims. The Commission defines and prohibits 12 types of …

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Goodbye to Fall 2020 (and hello to 2021!)

It’s been a long semester of remote classes, Zoom meetings, an ongoing pandemic, a disputed election, and continued social unrest.  Everyone I know is tired and in dire need of a break, and I’m entirely confident that this holds true …

By Barbara Hewitt
Barbara Hewitt Executive Director
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6 Actions to Take to Advance Your Career

It's common to feel stuck in your career, like you're no longer growing or enjoying your work. And when you stop growing professionally, you stop expanding your skills, knowledge, and experiences. As a result, you stop expanding your personal value. This …

By Firsthand
We help applicants, students, job-seekers and professionals like you find the right career path using the power of firsthand experiences.
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How Will a Biden Presidency Affect International Students’ Job Search?

After Joe Biden was elected the 46th president of the United States, we spoke with international student career expert Marcelo Barros to get a sense of how a Biden presidency is going to affect international students and their U.S. job search. We discussed …

By Firsthand
We help applicants, students, job-seekers and professionals like you find the right career path using the power of firsthand experiences.
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Making the Most of Career Services Communications

We know that you get LOTS of communications from all over Penn and at times in can be overwhelming.  Here are TWO QUICK STEPS you can take to make sure that the information you receive from Career Services is …

By Barbara Hewitt
Barbara Hewitt Executive Director
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