Fall 2019 Career Series

John Hodgson,
School Counselor, EO Smith
jhodgson@eosmith.org

Licensed Professional Counselor
Has a large caseload of students
Discusses specific topics with specific years (freshmen: adjusting to high school; sophomores: check in; juniors: start of college process; seniors: full swing of college application process, what comes after high school
Deal with personal and academic issues students face
Works closely with the school psychologist, school social worker, and teachers
Works traditional school hours
Starting salary: $50k-$60k (depending on the district)
Generally good benefits (health care, retirement)

Sophie Rodenbush
Neag School Psychology Graduate Student, PhD track
rodenbush@uconn.edu

Currently in UConn’s School Psych PhD program
School psychologists tend to have a small caseload of students that they may see for individual counseling
Primarily will work with students who require testing of Learning Disabilities
Works with Special Ed teachers and care team to ensure student is receiving the appropriate and feasible accommodations
Works traditional school hours
Starting salary: $70k-$75k (depending on the district)
Generally good benefits (health care, retirement)
Learn more about school counseling and UConn's program

Clare Collins
Neag School Counselor Graduate Student
harviel@uconn.edu

Working at DCF

DCF workers aim to keep children with their families.
When there is a report, an investigation will start, where a social worker will visit the home, interview family members, teachers, neighbors, etc.
There are many different roles within DCF and many steps in the investigation process.
Starting salary $55-$65, but can increase with time and experience and movement into supervisor roles.
Benefits are generally very good, since DCF is part of the State of CT.
Hours tend to be traditional 9am-5pm, but can work additionally if necessary.
DCF social workers will have to do a number of administrative roles, like logging all interactions with clients, and may need to go to court as well.

Pedro Argueta
Talent Development Associate, Aetna
arguetamarroquin@aetna.com

UConn, BA Psychological Sciences, 2019
Private sector – business that is privately owned, not related to state/government
No higher education needed than a BA/BS, can do a master’s in Human Resources to move into management
Starting salary around $45k-$55k
Good benefits, but some private companies do not have great benefits (health care and retirement, days off, etc)
Work hours and day are flexible, work from home available
Employee wellness is a priority
Working a lot with people when they have a problem – trying to help the employee with the issue, while also following the rules of the company/program

Brianna Williams
HR Associate, Workforce Solutions, UConn
williams@uconn.edu

UConn, BA Psychological Sciences with a Business minor, 2017
UConn, MA Human Resource Management, May 2020Public sector – works for
UConn, which is considered a public institution, a part of the state of CT
No higher education needed than a BA/BS, can do a master’s in Human
Resources to move into management
Starting salary around $50k-$55k
Great benefits (health care, retirement, days off), as UConn is part of
State of CT, which generally has really good benefits
Work hours and day are pretty standard 9am-5pm
Working a lot with people when they have a problem – trying to help the employee with the issue, while also following the rules of the company/program

Sergeant Justin Cheney
UConn Police Department
cheney@uconn.edu

UConn, BA Psychological Sciences, 2007
Currently works with Tildy, who is the Community Outreach Facility Dog (golden retriever)
Police officers do not need a bachelor’s degree, just a high school diploma, but some higher roles will require higher education
Must attend and pass police academy (4-6 months, live in or commute
After the academy, all officers start out on patrol
Must pass FTO (Field Training Officer) – First 8 weeks or so on patrol, you are with an FTO who assists you
After that, you are on your own as a patrol officer
Police have many different jobs and roles within the PD and officers can apply for them when positions become available, which is what Sergeant Cheney did, although he had to research and write up a request to receive approval to get Tildy
Hours can very and are typically non-traditional: 8am-4pm (day shift), 4pm-12am (evenings), 12am-8am (midnights)
Starting Salary is usually around $55 - $65k and can go up from there
Police also have the ability to work overtime and make a lot of additional money
Benefits are generally very good (health care, retirement/pension, days off)
Obviously, this can be dangerous at times, and carries certain risks

George Flores
Head Public Defender, Windham Judicial District
flores@jud.ct.gov

Clemson University, English, 1990; UConn Law School, 1995
George works with clients who have been charged with a crime, but cannot afford an attorney.
Generally, these are people who are low income, typically drugs are involved
The job of the public defender is to try to reduce or clear their client of charges, this involves interviewing people, understanding and researching forensic information, finding the doubt, defending client in court.
If the client is guilty, George will try to lessen the sentence or try to obtain a rehabilitation program
Hours tend to be pretty standard 9am-5pm, since that is when the courts are open, but George said he is usually always works, sometimes 10 hour days, and often on the weekends.
Benefits are really good, since he is part of the State of CT
Starting salary $60k-$70k, but can go up with experience and position

Matthew Gedansky
State's Attorney, Judicial District of Tolland
gedansky@ct.gov

UConn, School of Business BS, 1987; University of Denver College of Law, J.D., 1990
Matthew’s job is to prosecute people who have been charged with a crime
To do this, he must understand the charges, speak to law enforcement, interview witnesses, appear in court, cross examine witnesses or experts, negotiate with the client’s attorney, understand and research forensic information, make a case to prove the defendant is guilty.
Hours tend to be pretty standard 9am-5pm, since that is when the courts are open, but Matthew said he is usually always works, sometimes 10 hour days, and often on the weekends. He also has two phones and has told law enforcement to call him in the middle of the night at the scene of a crime. He will often go to a crime scene in the middle of the night.
Starting salary $60k-$70k, but can go up with experience and position
Benefits are really good, since he is part of the State of CT

Keith Furniss
Chief Probation Officer II, Judicial Branch, Adult Probation
furniss@jud.gov

UConn, BA Psychological Sciences; Northeastern University, MA, Counseling Psychology
Keith works with clients once they have been sentenced for a crime.
There are various rehabilitation programs that clients can be eligible for or that he we will with them on
Hours tend to be pretty standard 9am-5pm.
Starting salary $50k-$60k
Benefits are really good, since he is part of the State of CT

Department of Psychological Sciences

Phone:	(860) 486-3515
E-mail:	psychology@uconn.edu
Address:	Bousfield Psychology Building 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020 Storrs, CT 06269-1020