The Klein College of Media and Communication held its annual Career and Internship fair on Feb. 13, giving students and recent alumni the chance to talk to more than 50 employers and recruiters about future opportunities.
For Klein Career Services, the office that provides students with resources and guidance to succeed after college, Friday’s career fair marked the end of an era.
The event was the last to be planned and coordinated by Director of Career Services Lu Ann Cahn, who has stepped down as director to focus on teaching and career coaching. Cahn had put together the fair for nine years since her arrival at Temple in 2014.
“We didn’t even have a career fair when I started,” Cahn said. “We built all of that and I feel so proud that we created that. For you. For our students. For our alumni.”
Cahn is an Emmy award-winning journalist with more than 40 years of experience in broadcast news, including at NBC 10 in Philadelphia. As she steps into a less-involved role, she will pass the torch to a familiar face.
Chris Blackman, a former news director at NBC 10, is now taking over as the director of the center after a lengthy career in television. Blackman found out about the opening from Cahn’s LinkedIn post. The two had worked together at the Philadelphia station for more than a decade.
Prior to his time at WCAU, Blackman served as a assistant producer in Baltimore and an executive producer in Chicago. He also spent more than four years in Hong Kong and Singapore as vice president of programming and news for CNBC in Asia. For the past 10 years, Blackman has run his own media consulting business.
As Blackman continues to learn the systems, the people and the best way to approach the job, he’s looking forward to helping students reach their goals and providing them with the best resources and advice possible.
“I haven’t been this excited about an opportunity in a long time because even throughout my TV career the thing that always gave me the most satisfaction was working with people, mentoring people, helping them get to their next goal,” Blackman said. “Even for all the awards and accolades that I may have gotten in my career, the things that I’ve always been most proud of are the people I’ve helped to get to where they want to be.”
Less than a week after the conclusion of the career fair, Blackman is already thinking about next year’s planning and building on the success that Cahn has found.
“No matter how well something goes, and this one went really well, you’re always looking for ways to do better,” Blackman said. “How can we improve the student experience? Are there more employers we can get to come? Just little tweaks. You’re always looking to make it better than the year before.”
While some student workers at career services say Cahn’s departure is bittersweet, they are excited to work with Blackman and help him step into the role.
“I’m so excited,” said Justice Dyer, a student worker in the office. “I think it’s really good that we’re gonna have a new perspective and a fresh new set of eyes in the office. Chris is amazing. He’s funny and he’s charismatic and he cares about what he is doing and I think that’s one of the most important things. He really has all the best qualities of Lu Ann.”
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