Annual Career Symposium helps students stand out

The Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship (JJCBE) offered students the opportunity to gain practical career knowledge by hosting its annual Career Symposium on Tuesday, Feb. 11 in the Strand Union Building. This year marks the second time that the JJCBE has put on the event.

Dean of the JJCBE Brian Gillespie kicked off the event as the keynote speaker. Gillespie’s opening speech urged business students to find what challenges them and engage with opportunities around them to prepare for the professional world. 

“Take every opportunity to learn from those around you, engage with your professors, attend networking events and challenge yourself with real-world experiences,” Gillespie said. His main message was for students to stay engaged, utilize JJCBE resources and find their passions.

After Gillespie’s speech, attendees dispersed to separate rooms to learn about career opportunities within MSU’s four business programs — accounting, finance, marketing and management. 

The night ended with five different breakout sessions offered to students to learn more about internships, networking, study abroad programs, career resources and MSU’s Blackstone LaunchPad (BLP). 

The BLP offers entrepreneurial and innovation help to MSU faculty, students and alumni, according to its website. Through the breakout sessions, students learned the art of networking, how the BLP can help with students’ startups, how study-abroad programs can help student’s careers, information about internships and how to utilize career services.

“The intention behind the career symposium is getting at the heart of our students that are usually right at the end of their sophomore [or] middle of their junior year,” said Kayla Lee, director of student and community engagement at the JJCBE. According to Lee, the symposium helps inform students about opportunities offered by MSU while they still have some time left in their college careers. 

Toby Blake, the new director of the Bracken Center (BC), hosted the breakout session on internships. According to the MSU website, the BC provides career counseling services, mentoring programs, small classes, curriculum development and more for the JJCBE. 

“[The JJCBE] really prides itself on that experiential, real-world learning, so a symposium like this is a really good opportunity to explore not only opportunities within your major and concentration but outside opportunities,” Blake said. 

According to him, 70 percent of JJCBE students complete an internship during their time at MSU, as opposed to the nationwide average of 39 percent. “And then — even better — 60 percent of them are offered full-time positions, usually with that same company right out of undergrad,” Blake said.

Maria Stopplecamp, the former director of the BC, hosted one of the breakout sessions last year. She said she received over 50 new appointments from students for one-on-one coaching because of the event. “People saw the value of internships. They wanted to meet and learn more and they scheduled one-on-one coaching appointments which is fantastic,” Stopplecamp said.

Symposium attendee and business finance major Andreas Drekonja said he found information in the internship breakout session helpful for his career goals. “[I] think I’ll definitely reach out to the [BC] and see what I can learn from there,” said Drekonja after attending the internship breakout session.

“Engaging with the campus, showing you are involved with whatever it is — whether it’s being an ambassador in [the JJCBE], whether it’s being an AdvoCat — I think that shows a lot of heart,” said Lee when asked how students can stand out to employers. She said that engaging in extracurricular activities shows employers that students have soft skills. That includes the ability to hold a conversation and put themselves out there, which employers look for when hiring. 

AdvoCat guides are students who give tours of MSU’s campus to prospective students and help facilitate certain events on campus, according to the MSU website.

Blake and Stopplecamp also said it is important to engage in extracurricular activities like study abroad programs, internships or volunteer work, which can help students stand out to employers. “They’re really looking for that well-rounded student — they’re looking for job history and employment and then they’re also looking for involvement and leadership skills,” Stopplecamp said. 

To learn about future events held by the JJCBE, visit montana.edu/business/index.html.