Eernisse Travels to London to Take Part in Student-Athlete Career Venture
7/30/2025 11:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
By Jadyn Zdanavage
From May 29-June 7, University of Michigan ice hockey rising senior Josh Eernisse had the opportunity to travel abroad in England on the first international Career Venture with the Graham Family Athletic Career Center, formerly the Michigan Athletics Career Center. Over the course of 10 days, Eernisse and a group of U-M student-athletes toured six companies across a wide range of industries, networked with Michigan alumni at events, and explored the city of London.
From A2 to the UK
The trip started with exploring London. The group spent the weekend getting a feel for their new environment by taking a bus tour of the city and visiting popular tourist attractions including Borough Market, Notting Hill, Portobello Road Market and St. Paul's Cathedral.
Each day thereafter was filled with a company visit, team-building exercises and events. Throughout the week, the student-athletes visited companies like McLaren, Bryan, Garnier and Co. and VML Live. They even had a special group outing to see the musical "Hamilton" in the city.
One evening, the London Alumni Association put together an event exclusively for the student-athletes on the trip. Eernisse got the chance to network with 20-30 professionals in attendance. Not only did the alums share their backgrounds and assist with networking, but they provided additional advice to all the student-athletes.
"They talk about experiences and give advice on how to best leverage your experience when trying to position yourself for a job, and how it's a competitive advantage and things along those lines," Eernisse said. "Student-athletes have so many skills employers are looking for, so learning how to best present those skills is important when trying to get an internship or job."
Eernisse described each company visit as a "micro-internship" because student-athletes were able to step into a company for a few hours to truly get a feel for it. He focused on observing the different workplace cultures, such as the size of the company and the collaboration he saw between employees.
"You can hear a lot of different perspectives and people's personal opinions on those things, and then it gives you an idea and an understanding for what I kind of want to look for when I'm looking for a company or a team to work in," Eernisse said.
He got a glimpse of a unique workplace culture when the group went to Neal's Yard Dairy. Eernisse said it was a much smaller company than the others they toured, with 60-80 employees. At Neal's Yard Dairy, everyone knows each other, and each day it is someone's job to make lunch for everyone. This kind of environment is different and allowed Eernisse to observe the intricacies of the company. Seeing the differences in workplace culture allowed Eernisse to narrow down what areas he is interested in, as well as what kind of team he wants to be a part of.
London vs. New York
The time spent in London helped Eernisse build on his experiences last summer during the New York career venture. In New York, the focus and takeaways were different. He shared the importance of getting his foot in the door. Learning from industry professionals at companies like LinkedIn, ESPN and Authentic Brand Groups showed Eernisse the importance of networking to step into competitive industries like marketing, business and finance.
Then there are the obvious cultural differences between New York and London. As one of the business capitals of the world, New York is fast-paced, while London is less hurried. The London workforce seems to put more of an emphasis on passion for the company, even if it was not the particular role they loved. The ability to pivot and change mindset is essential in the workplace to make the job more meaningful.
"If there's a passion there, then you have purpose, and that makes it worthwhile," Eernisse said. "And that's not necessarily something that I took away from my New York trip."
One of the takeaways when being part of the career ventures is how much Michigan student-athletes are prioritized by companies.
"You're not getting the guy who's like printing the papers and distributing coffee, Eernisse said. "These are the executives. Michigan student-athletes are fortunate to get some of their time, but that just goes to show how valued they are by Michigan alumni at the heads of these companies."
Opportunity to Connect with Student Athletes
Aside from being able to connect with Michigan alums and a variety of companies, the career ventures are unique because they pool student-athletes from different sports.
"I've been the only person from the hockey team on both of my trips, so I didn't really know anybody heading into them," Eernisse said. "I probably know at least one person on every team at Michigan now, which is pretty cool, because I don't know how else I would cross paths with a lot of these other teams if it weren't for experiences like this."
Graham Family Director of the GFACC Maurice Washington and assistant director Julie Fielding structure team-building activities and team meals. Each career venture allows student-athletes to spend most of the day together, which facilitates further connection. The intentionality behind the selection process for the career ventures, along with the curated itinerary, creates a family environment and facilitates relationship building between the group of student-athletes.
Resources at the GFACC
Career ventures are just one of the many resources that the GFACC provides student-athletes. Fielding and Washington are open for appointments to provide guidance, advice and mentorship for student-athletes looking to gain a job or internship. They put together events throughout the school year, such as an etiquette dinner to teach proper etiquette in business settings, networking events with alumni, and workshops to help student-athletes build their resumes and LinkedIn profiles.
Upon speaking with either Fielding or Washington, student-athletes learn that many companies are in search of student-athletes for their open positions. The soft and hard skills that student-athletes utilize daily are necessary for being a successful employee. Time management, communication and discipline are examples of skills that athletes have already mastered to be successful at their sports, let alone making it on a team at Michigan.
"You're being recruited, rather than you're trying to find a company," Eernisse said. "Student-athletes are able to reach out to Michigan alums or other individuals who have contacted the GFACC to set up informational interviews and calls to better understand careers. This gives Michigan student-athletes the opportunity to build their networks, which could potentially lead them to a future internship or job."
The GFACC is one of the few career centers across the country that allows graduates to come back to receive further help or guidance.
"With the GFACC, there's a lot more than what meets the eye," Eernisse said. "From providing student-athletes with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to travel abroad and throughout the U.S. on career ventures, to the workshops and one-on-one counseling they provide, student-athletes at Michigan are taken care of."
Athletes like Eernisse are supported in the classroom, on the ice, and everywhere in between, and the GFACC -- and an event like a career venture -- plays a big part in that.
