School of Business Organizes Inaugural Career Development Encounter

On April 11, the School of Business, in collaboration with its advisory board, organized its inaugural Career Development Encounter. Students were invited to email their resume several days before the event then prepare a three-minute “elevator pitch” about themselves and participate in an interview process. This annual event was also open to students from the other schools on campus.

The interviews were scheduled simultaneously by two panels of executives, all members of the School of Business Advisory Board. In order to make the event more appealing, four gift card prizes, sponsored by advisory board member Neil Sherman, were announced as prizes for the best prepared and most engaged participants. A total of 10 students met with the business executives, each receiving valuable constructive feedback once the pitch and the interview had been conducted. There were student participants from the School of Business, the School of Architecture and the School of Media, Culture & Design.

In a reflective meeting after the encounter, the panelists stated that they were highly impressed by the level of preparation and the eloquence displayed by the participating students. Most students appeared professionally dressed, and all of them – without exception – eagerly listened to the constructive feedback received after the interview had ended. The participating students experienced this event as exhilarating and highly important to their career preparation. They considered the event an excellent and effective practice in exposure to a team of executives for future job interviews. Several of them came away with insights about areas that they should emphasize in more detail, and ways in which they could structure their resumes even more effectively.