Recruiters from financial firms Sageworks and Bernard Robinson & Company warned Campbell students on Monday that too much white space on their resumes is a No. 1 pet peeve.
Luckily, both recruiters arrived on campus ready to help fill in those blanks for students seeking internship opportunities.
The internship Q&A session was part of Business Week, an annual entrepreneurial affair that provides students with professional development resources. The Lundy-Fetterman School of Business has orchestrated this action-packed week of programming for 12 years running.
The theme of this Business Week 2018 is “Social Entrepreneurship: Business with Purpose.” Each day’s event will focus on using innovative business practices to give back to communities, and will include tours of local companies, service projects and pitch competitions. Throughout the week, students will hear insights from local entrepreneurs and featured guest Jess Ekstrom, founder of a nonprofit that supports cancer research.
On Wednesday, students are invited not only to listen to other business owners discuss their enterprises, but to pitch their own ideas to the community. The Innovation Challenge is an entrepreneurship competition for students from any major to promote their ideas and prototypes. Each team will be given four minutes to present their idea, keeping in mind that judges are looking for creative solutions to problems faced by students or their communities.
The Innovation Challenge embodies the theme of this year’s Business Week by pushing students to use their ideas to help those around them. But it also teaches valuable presentation skills that will help them as they enter the workforce. Lisa Youngquist, director of Career Services and Professional Development at the business school, told students on Monday that presentation is half the battle when it comes to finding internships.
“You’ll need to show confidence in yourself and know how to tell employers what you can bring to the table,” said Youngquist, with local recruiters nodding along behind her. “We know it’s difficult to step out of school into the real world, so employers need to see that you can relate the experiences you had in school to any task set before you.”
The HQ Raleigh tour and Keynote dinner require registration, but all are encouraged to participate in the events on the schedule below.
SCHEDULE
Raleigh Entrepreneurship: HQ Raleigh
- Tuesday | 7:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
- HQ Raleigh, 310 S. Harrington St., Raleigh
- Students will be given a tour of the space at HQ Raleigh, share meals with entrepreneurs and hear from entrepreneurs who have chosen to tie a social cause into their business. Transportation will be provided.
Big Idea, Big Impact
- Tuesday | 4 p.m.
- Lundy Fetterman School of Business, Room 123
- Listen to speaker Jess Ekstrom, founder of Headbands of Hope, a company that donates a headband to a child with cancer for every headband sold.
SOUP Pitch Competition | Innovation Challenge
- Wednesday | 4 p.m.
- Taylor Hall, Trustee Room
- SOUP is a micro-granting dinner celebrating and supporting creative projects in the community. A donation of $5 secures each attendee a meal and the opportunity to hear presentations from social entrepreneurs. The project voted the most beneficial to the community will be granted the evening’s proceeds.
Coffee Break: Student and Community Business Fair and Live Music
- Wednesday | 9:45 a.m. to 11 a.m.
- Lundy Fountain
- Student business owners will be displaying their merchandise at this campus “coffee break” accompanied by live music. Drop-ins can ask questions and hear about how these entrepreneurs started their businesses.
Innovation Challenge
- Wednesday | 5 to 6:30 p.m.
- Taylor Hall, Room 118
- The campus-wide Innovation Challenge provides an event for all students (undergraduate and graduate) from across campus to pitch new ideas and share current projects with the Campbell community. Each student team has four minutes to present a problem they are tackling and how they are solving it, and will display their concept designs and/or prototypes.
Professional Headshots for Business Majors
- Thursday | 10:45 a.m. to noon
- Lundy Fountain
- Free professional headshots will be available for business majors only. Please visit http://bit.ly/CUInnovation to sign up for photographs.
Social Entrepreneurship Dinner and Keynote
- Thursday | 5:30 p.m.
- Gregory Vineyards, 275 Bowling Spring Drive, Angier
- Attendees will enjoy a meal and learn about how the Gregory family built their seafood restaurant and winery business. Brian Hamilton, a leader in social entrepreneurship, will share his experiences.