Careers

What is Beyond the Dome?

Beyond the Dome is the preeminent career development program that provides the platform for College of Arts and Letters students to explore a range of potential career paths while creating access, exposure, and opportunities to break into their desired career industry. The mission of this program is to guide students to articulate what they seek in a job, but more importantly, what they want their lives to look like post-grad. In doing so, Beyond the Dome strives to instill a more holistic career development narrative, stressing the need and importance of a liberal arts education in the workforce.

Why is Beyond the Dome here?

“Study everything. Do anything.” It is crucial to instill this belief during the early stages of college. Arts and Letters students are encouraged to lean into subjects and matters that pique their interests, with the assurance that it is possible to pursue a career that aligns with their passion. While this sentiment is true, the struggle that confronts our students is discovering how to make this a reality amidst societal pressures that equate identity to career status and ambiguous standards of success.

Notre Dame Arts and Letters students are creative problem solvers, exceptional storytellers, and world-class relationship builders. We want our students to explore career paths that tap into their interests and personalities, not blindly settle for a career that does not fulfill their passion, their needs, their lifestyle, and most importantly, their purpose for doing what they do. Only then are students more likely to be motivated, excited, and inspired to impact the people and world around them with true meaning. Students must be equipped with greater clarity, confidence, and skills to fully comprehend this and pursue their dreams.

Our Unique Approach

As a program housed within the College of Arts and Letters, Beyond the Dome possesses the freedom to be innovative and creative in its approaches toward student, alumni, and employer interactions. We work to foster unique, more organic points of engagement through fireside chats, one-on-one meetings, panels, speaker events, workshops, and sustained relationships.

Our central focus is to expose employers to the Arts and Letters talent pool and provide a deeper understanding as to why our students are well-equipped to thrive in any industry with a holistic liberal arts education, regardless of major. Our university was founded as a liberal arts institution, and we enable students to continue that tradition by helping them become experts in their own stories and experiences. Beyond the Dome strives to fuel students’ personal and professional pursuits with the assurance that they feel supported, seen, and certain of their decision to be Arts and Letters students.

Who We Serve

Beyond the Dome is open to all undergraduates within the College of Arts and Letters and aims to cultivate meaningful and genuine relationships that are built on a strong sense of community.