James Connon

Senior Associate Director, Employer Relations and Recruiting

James Connon serves as the Senior Associate Director, Employer Relations and Recruiting for the Career Services.

Jim and his colleagues in Employer Relations develop and advance relationships with employers to expand internship and employment opportunities for Loyola students and to help employers find talented students and alumni who will serve their organizations well.  The team in Employer Relations serves the College of Arts and Sciences, the Quinlan School of Business, the School of Communication, the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, the School of Education, the Graduate School, the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, the School of Social Work and Arrupe College. 

Before coming to Loyola in May of 2018, Jim worked in higher education for Augustana College, as the Assistant Director, Employer Relations, Chicago Region.  He served all academic departments in the college, opening job and internship opportunities in the Chicago area.  Jim led implementation for the Handshake jobs and internships platform for Augustana, serving as a Handshake Certified Trainer.  He developed the Augustana College Professional Development Distinguished Speaker Series, bringing industry leaders to campus to guide students on topics including Professional Presence, Delivering Effective Presentations to Executives, and What Recruiters Really Want.  After his time at Augustana, Jim consulted for an Executive Coaching Firm, providing expertise on Career Development, Marketing, Web Design, and Copywriting. 

Prior to his time in higher education, Jim worked in sales in Digital Marketing and Religious Book Publishing.  While working as an Account Executive for a digital marketing firm, Jim worked with for-profit companies, non-profits, and governmental organizations.  He led workshops on marketing for the Illinois Parks and Recreation Association, the Illinois Nursing Home Administrators Association, the Aurora Chamber of Commerce and the Oswego Chamber of Commerce.  He also assisted clients with Search Engine Optimization and helped them gain better search engine rankings and more traffic to their websites. 

Jim also worked in religious book publishing for almost 20 years, last serving as National Sales Manager for InterVarsity Press.  He led the sales team, sat on the Publishing Committee, and led an award-winning team of sales people, marketers, and designers to win “Best in Show” at a national trade show for two of three years.  He served on the industry Exhibit Advisory Committee and the Convention Reinvention Committee. 

For a number of years, Jim was an Oswego “Valley Voices” columnist for The Aurora Beacon-News, writing human interest columns about things and people in Oswego that mattered to him, including marching band, the arts, faith, and ordinary people in town who did extraordinary things to make a difference.  He serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Oswego Public Library District. 

Jim has a Bachelor of Arts degree from North Central College in Speech Communication/Theatre and Mathematics.  He has a Certificate in Bible and Theology from the Advance Studies Program from Moody Bible Institute.