Business Week is a three-day event exploring transfer options to aid business-related majors and provide opportunities for the budding professional.
Starting Tuesday, Nov. 15, and ending Thursday, Nov. 17, all three events are taking place in the ASO room on the first floor of the Library / Learning Crossroads. The business and counseling departments are hosting these events to try and enhance students’ knowledge of business-related majors and career pathways.
Student engagement coordinator and counselor Lara Conrady-Wong said that these events have been coming up for over six weeks.
“It’s been in the works for a while,” Conrady-Wong said. “We’re hoping there are over 100 students in each of the days, so we’re setting up for that many.”
Yesterday’s event, held from 12:30 to 2 p.m., dealt with the exploration of transfer options. A panel of representatives from transfer institutions was available to answer student questions about the transfer process. Representatives came from campuses including Cal. State Northridge, Pepperdine, and UCLA and a late pizza lunch, funded by Pepperdine, was served after the panel presentation.
Today’s event is also being held from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m., and focuses on what it takes to be a business professional. A panel of business insiders from companies such as Google, RSM Accountants and Auditors, TrueCar and Whole Foods will be on campus to talk about their experience.
The planned discussion points include the challenges they face, how to avoid mistakes they’ve made, and how to get a job similar to the one they have. As with yesterday’s event, a late lunch will be served after the panel presentation.
“We really tried to get some big, popular company names that students would really find interesting,” Career Center Director and counselor Wendi Meckler said. “I’ve got somebody from Google coming, and she actually just accepted a job at Snapchat, so she’s got some really good experience.”
Tomorrow’s event, titled Speed Networking, will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. The evening will start out with a presentation on how to network given by marketing saleswoman Wendy Kim. Then students will have a chance to connect with professionals from marketing, management, MIS, accounting, human resources, women in business and real estate. From this, the students will be able to see what these careers can offer them, from becoming a business accountant to real estate agent, the possibilities are endless.
Later appetizers and refreshments will be served on the patio in a mock social setting at the evening’s conclusion. This is intended to provide students with an opportunity to practice the skills they just learned.
“I think they’ll walk out with a better understanding of the institutions’ offerings, the requirements for admission and how to best prepare for transfer,” counselor Norine Fine said. “It really just gives them more insight into what it’s like to be a professional in these different fields on a day to day basis.”
The next similar event coming up after Business Week is National STEM Week which will take place in February, according to Fine. The event will be geared towards science, technology, engineering and math students and there are a couple of counselors already working on that, Fine said.
