By Dana Fitzmorris
Kellstadt’s Fall 2019 Career Conference on Nov. 2 did not disappoint. This event is hosted twice a year by the Career Management team at Kellstadt to provide an opportunity for students to network with business leaders in the Chicago community and gain career insights through workshops and panel discussions.
The conference kicked off with keynote speaker (and DePaul alumnus) Martin McGovern who talked about the realities of job searching. Martin is a coach at Career Therapy who helps clients with the emotional and promotional aspects of professional development. In his talk, Martin provided three helpful tips for graduate students when looking for jobs:
1. Focus on meeting people
The most valuable use of your time when job searching is connecting with individuals already working in your desired industry. Not only does this broaden your network, but also helps you understand job responsibilities with different companies. Most people are happy to share their experiences and help you learn.
2. Leverage your existing network
When applying for jobs, submitting your resume online should not be your only step. It is crucial to utilize your network and meet professionals face-to-face because personal relationships are typically what help you secure a job. Only 20% of people land a job from just an opening found online.
3. Maximize your use of LinkedIn
Many students create LinkedIn profiles once and never login again. This is a mistake. LinkedIn has extensive search capabilities to help find mutual connections with those working for a certain company or industry. By using the People Search feature on LinkedIn and expanding all filter options, you can generate search results based on granular criteria like past employers, geographic location and specialty services.
The second part of the conference involved three Q&A panel breakout sessions, where students could choose whichever session they found most applicable. The first session focused on using your graduate degree to advance your current career, the second talked about changing your career and the third was centered on careers in consulting. The panelists were honest and open with their responses to our questions, helping paint a clear picture about their industry and career expectations.
My favorite part of the Career Conference was receiving advice from the panelists about what grad students can be doing right now to prepare for the job market. Gaining applicable experience through internships, practicing interview skills with sample case problems and behavioral questions, and using DePaul alumni as resources were all tips they offered.
Kellstadt’s Career Conference helped me think about my career goals and develop a plan to reach them. One of my biggest takeaways was the importance of your network when job searching. The event supported this notion, as we were able to connect with Chicago employers and DePaul alumni at the breakout sessions. The Career Conference encouraged me to continue growing my professional network, and I am already looking forward to next year’s event.
Dana Fitzmorris graduated from Texas Christian University with a bachelor’s degree in finance and management. She is currently pursuing an MBA at DePaul, with a focus on entrepreneurship. She is co-founder of Kellstadt’s Women in Business student organization.
Recently, we had an incredible opportunity to learn and build our professional networks in a setting beyond what’s possible in the classroom. On a brisk October morning, we bundled up and made our way across Detroit’s riverfront to attend the 2019 Net Impact Conference, representing the DePaul Net Impact chapter as proud chapter leaders.
Net Impact, a nonprofit based in Oakland, Calif., has more than 400 professional and university chapters around the globe. The organization’s mission aims to equip, inspire and build the professional networks of the next generation of change-makers and social impact leaders. A Net Impact chapter has been operating at DePaul for several years, and in 2019, we hoped to make the presence of the DePaul Net Impact chapter felt in Detroit. This year’s conference theme was dubbed, “Widening the Lens” – in other words, how can students and industry professionals expand their ideas about sustainability and social impact.
On Friday, we were lucky enough to present at the first-ever Net Impact poster presentation session, where we had the opportunity to raise awareness around the issues of food loss and global climate change – issues that drove us both to pursue degrees in the field of sustainable management at DePaul. It was an informal setting where we could see how our tech-based idea for reducing food loss in supply chains would be received by others, mostly students and working professionals also attending the conference. We received plenty of encouragement from other conference attendees during that afternoon session. We both came out thinking, “This public speaking thing isn’t too bad, right?”
On Saturday, we attended a career-building session sponsored by LinkedIn. We served as mentors to scholarship students attending universities in Detroit. Our goal was to assist these students as they advance their professional networks and build their LinkedIn profiles for future job hunting. It was an amazing chance to learn about the life experiences and journeys of others, and we left the session having learned a lot more than we gave.
All the final presentations and papers we have endured as students, and the concepts we have learned in the classroom, put us in the position to not just enter the conference as participants but seize the opportunity to be change-makers and storytellers. We both felt clarity and direction in our careers; a situation you dream of when you first decide to take the initial step in pursuing an advanced degree. Based on the feedback we had from visitors at the poster presentation, it seems like we are on track for graduation next year with the skills required in today’s competitive landscape: attention to detail, creativity, and critical thinking, which were some of the comments we heard.
Martin Holzmann (left) and Ryan Henderson at the Net Impact conference in Detroit.
For students interested in a similar experience, Net Impact hosts ongoing challenges, where you can submit a proposal and test your entrepreneurial spirit in a professional environment. Earlier this year, we submitted a proposal to the Net Impact 2019 Food Solutions Challenge. As finalists, we received an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City in June and had the opportunity to pitch our idea to a panel of investors and sustainability experts. We placed second overall, and it was one of the reasons Net Impact invited us to present at this October conference.
A strong finish to our last year at DePaul has never been more motivating. We are excited to get back in the classroom and leverage what we have learned about building networks that inspire change in the world. We challenge students at DePaul to get involved around campus – whether it’s a study abroad program or a student organization. There are plenty of opportunities to take your classroom concepts out into the world. Don’t wait until you graduate.
We would like to thank DePaul University for making these opportunities possible for us.
Learn more and join DePaul Net Impact by visiting the website or emailing depaulnetimpact@gmail.com.
Ryan Henderson and Martin Holzmann are graduate students in the MS in Sustainable Management Program at the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. They currently lead DePaul Net Impact as the chapter leaders.
When I first started my journey with DePaul last September, I did not envy my fellow classmates who were continuing to work while pursuing their MBA’s. To me it did not seem possible to get the full graduate school experience while simultaneously holding a job. Yes, I was aware that this was a feat that many students accomplish every year; however, I never envisioned myself as one of those students. Fast forward to today, and it is clear that I underestimated myself at the time, as I am sure many first-year graduate students do. Since January, I have been participating in a part-time internship at Millennium Properties R/E, a boutique commercial real estate firm, and will be switching to a full-time role starting this summer. As an intern, I’ve had the opportunity to assist and shadow brokers in the company and learn about the functions of property listings. During this summer, I will transition to an associate broker, and will be responsible for showing properties and negotiating leases and sales contracts. I won’t lie – at times the work seems like a lot, especially around finals, but the experiences that I have had with both school and work thus far are something that I wouldn’t trade for anything
“To be able to find a new career that I love, and find it within my first year of school, is something that I never imagined to be possible.”
DePaul does an incredible job of giving its students the tools to not only narrow down a career path and find a job, but also to thrive in that job once you have it. The reason I wanted to pursue my MBA at DePaul in the first place was to seek out guidance in pivoting from my previous career in beverage sales. This past fall I spent a lot of time meeting with the incredibly helpful Kellstadt Career Management Center (CMC) staff to accomplish this goal. As we neared the end of our first quarter, I started to hone in on my interest in commercial real estate. The CMC staff provided me with a number of contacts within DePaul’s Real Estate Center and from there the momentum really started to pick up. Within a month of declaring my concentration in Real Estate Finance & Investment, I already had an interview for a potential internship, and within a week of that interview, I had a job offer. After the initial excitement of receiving and accepting the offer had worn off, the reality of what my next couple years might look like started to set in. I found myself reverting to the mindset that I had developed at the beginning of my DePaul journey: “This is something that other students are able to do, but not you.” I quickly realized that this could not have been further from the truth.
Since starting in my current role back in January, both teachers and fellow classmates have been supportive every step of the way when conflicts between work and school would arise. Additionally, the company that I am interning with expressed to me from the very beginning their understanding of me being a student first and an intern second. It is my understanding that this dual support shown from both school and work is a sentiment that many of my classmates, who are also full-time students with jobs, all share.
In closing, to be able to find a new career that I love, and find it within my first year of school, is something that I never imagined to be possible. Yet, if I had stuck with the original mindset I had last fall, it is something I would not have never experienced. For those first-year students who find themselves having a similar mindset, don’t be afraid to push the boundaries of your comfort zone—it could be the thing that answers the question of why you went to school in the first place.
Arthur Hailand is a first year full-time MBA student studying Real Estate & Investment, and interns at Millennium Properties R/E.
“Tell me a bit about yourself…”
“Why are you looking for a new opportunity?”
“Where do you see yourself in 10 years?”
Questions like these, among others, are just a step in the interview process that students face when leveraging their MBA. On Friday, January 25, the Kellstadt Career Management Center hosted an event for students of the full-time MBA program: What’s Your ROI? Return on Interviews. Students learned about a different type of ROI—namely, how to turn their business education into career advancement.
Full-time MBA student Reagan Pittman felt the timing of the event was perfect. “With one quarter of the MBA program under my belt and in the midst of applying for summer internships, the mock interview came at just the right time,” Pittman says.
Reagan Pittman
Stephanie Smith, vice president for human resources at DePaul University, kicked off the ROI event with a workshop. Smith reminded students of the importance of networks when re-entering the workforce following the completion of their MBA. Smith left the students with a challenge to assess the status of their personal network, mentors and sponsors. The theme of cultivating relationships continued throughout the event.
Based on desired industry and professional background, students paired up with DePaul alumni to perform mock interviews. Students were given the opportunity to hone their interview skills and receive feedback from alumni.
Pittman found the experience especially informative. “The feedback that I received from my interviewer was invaluable,” she says. “It was a great opportunity to be able to practice interview questions and to also get feedback regarding my résumé in a safe, low-risk environment. We also discussed ways to promote myself to a potential employer.”
Click here to read more about the ROI event. To find out more about the events and offerings of the Kellstadt Career Management Center, click here.
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