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As students prepared to return to school in August, Central Connecticut State University’s School of Business offered a three-day College to Career Summit. The event brought business professionals and Central staff and faculty experts together to advise students on the best resume, networking, and job search tips.
One of the highlights of the event was a panel of recent Central graduates who discussed the steps they took to secure employment before they graduated.
Connor DeLaney ’19 works at a company that helps businesses bring their sales and marketing activities in-house. He agreed with all the panelists that internships are one of the best ways to get work experience and choose a career.
“The point of an internship is to help you build your resume, but also to see ‘Is this for me? Is this what I want to do?’” DeLaney said.
Luke Anderson, who graduates in December, has interned at Pratt & Whitney for nearly two years. He was recently offered a full-time position in supply chain management when he graduates.
“You have to be open and look out for and take the opportunities that arise,” Anderson said. “You never know where they will come from.”
A graduate from 2022, Lucia Visconti, said she got her first job experience by volunteering.
“It was an organization that needed help checking people in one night a month. I volunteered to help out and got a free meal out of it,” Visconti said.
“As I spent more time with the organization, I was able to learn about marketing and administration and gets hands-on experience. I was able to work on policy and bring it to the board. I was able to turn volunteering into an internship opportunity.”
Business professor Dr. Hank Morelli told the groups that internships and job interviews are a two-way street.
“When you go into an internship or interview, they’re looking at you, but you’re also looking at them,” Dr. Morelli said. “You get to know that environment. Find out as much as you can about a company before your interview. Ask to interview the people you’d be working with.”
Central junior Wilkie Ni asked the panelists if they knew as first-year students what field they wanted to pursue.
DeLaney said he started at Central as an Education major.
“I came around pretty quickly and found that it wasn’t what I wanted to do. So, I started trying different things and looking around to what I wanted to do,” he said. “That took me through my first and second year. I really recommend that you try lots of different things to see what clicks.”
In the end, DeLaney graduated with a degree in Marketing.