February 8, 2013
Professional Development Day: Students hone their professional skills at College of Business Administration event
Submitted by Communications and Marketing
Fourteen companies and an expected 400 students will participate in Kansas State University's second Professional Development Day, a College of Business Administration-sponsored event that gives students the opportunity to learn and perfect skills such as networking, corporate ethics and cross-generational communication.
The college's Professional Development Day will be 12:30-5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20, in the K-State Student Union. While geared toward students in the College of Business Administration, students in all majors are encouraged to learn more and register at http://www.cba.k-state.edu/current-students. This is a free event.
At Professional Development Day, companies present concurrent interactive workshops to small groups of students. Nine workshops will be offered at each of four time slots, giving students a variety of topics to choose from.
"This is a unique opportunity for students to enhance their professional skills and network with business professionals," said Bente Janda, director of undergraduate student services in the College of Business Administration. "Students enrich their college experience by gaining skills and knowledge that will help them become more marketable."
After the workshop, a social hour will give students the opportunity to network with company representatives in a less structured setting.
Student representatives from the college's student organizations planned the inaugural Professional Development Day during the spring 2012 semester. Students who attended learned important professional skills and benefited from having direct contact with companies who actively recruit business students.
"This is a great way to network and have the opportunity to get to know the companies better," said Kelsey Martin, a sophomore in accounting and finance, Colwich, who attended Professional Development Day in 2012 and helped organize this year's event.
The event is organized by the Joint Project Committee, made up of student leaders from organizations in the college, and the staff of Professional Advantage, the college's professional development program.
The companies and workshops for this year's Professional Development Day are:
Cargill: Personal branding
Cerner: Effective interview skills
ConocoPhillips: Corporate ethics
Hallmark: Strategic key account selling — How Hallmark sells to its top retailers
Koch: How to obtain an internship
KPMG: Transitioning from school to work/internship
Philips 66: Thriving in a cross-generational workplace
Victaulic: The consultational approach to selling
While not presenting workshops, the following companies will attend the social hour at Professional Development Day: Northwestern Mutual, Hormel Foods, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, TEK Systems, Edward Jones and GTM Sportswear.