On the Hunt

In an economy where fewer and fewer employers are hiring, I am among the lucky group of individuals that is currently seeking employment.  Yep, that’s right…I’m on the market!  Not to worry, though, I have copious resources at William and Mary that are helping me to move my job search along in a stagnating market!

I have discovered that the biggest benefit I have gotten out of my business minor is not the classes (although those are great), but rather access to all the resources within the business school.  First among these-the professors.  All of the professors I know well in the business school (and even those I don’t!) are opening their contacts to me, helping me to attend networking events, meet with their personal connections, etc.  Last week, for example, I was invited by a professor to attend the Financial Executives International Student Networking Night.  William and Mary took two students to this event where we had the opportunity to network with some of the top financial executives in Virginia.  Even though I am not a finance major, I was able to attend this networking event and connect with people from big name companies like GE and Sony!  In addition to the professors, the Mason School of Business also has a number of “Executive Partners” (EPs) who come to William and Mary to aid business students in a number of different areas.  In my entrepreneurship class, we have four executive partners with whom I have been working to contact people for informational interviews.  Within a week, I had four meetings lined up to talk with individuals ranging from a cardiothoracic surgeon to a former marketing director at GE, each of whom had a very different outlook to share with me in my career search.  Finally, the business school also has its own career advisor, Peggy Gesing, who is there to help students with more than just resumes.  Peggy is great about brainstorming ideas of people to talk to and coming up with ideas on how to advance your career search.  Peggy recently helped me reformulate the way in which I am selling myself to companies to make sure that all of my experience is relevant.

The second major resource I have in my career search is William and Mary’s Career Center.  Each semester, the Career Center hosts a career fair, but their work doesn’t stop there!  Last Friday, I joined one of their Road 2 Richmond trips, which connects students interested in working in Richmond with employers in several different areas.  The trip I attended was focused on marketing and involved a panel at The Martin Agency, one of the premiere marketing agencies in the country (anyone seen the UPS whiteboard ads?), followed by a networking event at the headquarters of a consulting company called Play.  This trip was great in many ways.  First and foremost, even though I am not necessarily interested in a career in marketing, it gave me some good insight into what employers are looking for in recent graduates and ways to get your foot in the door at places you might be interested in working.  The Career Center also helped me to attend a big career fair in Richmond on Wednesday.  The College 2 Career Fair brought employers from across the country to come speak with students.  The best thing about it-it was sponsored by a major healthcare company with whom I got to speak extensively.  It is too soon to know now whether anything came of it, but I thought it was a very well put together event.  (And who knows?  I may have even won a free airline ticket!)

Overall, it is a scary time to be in the job market, but William and Mary is making it a little bit easier.  The answer is: network, network, network.  It isn’t easy, but it is a life long skill, and I’m getting plenty of opportunity to practice right now!