Ole Miss is in the business
of job placement
The School of Business Administration at Ole Miss isn’t just providing a great education, but it’s also helping students find great jobs. Through career coaching, meet-and-greet nights with potential employers, internships and alumni support, the school offers a bevy of initiatives focused on student job placement.
To help undergraduate business students maximize their potential in the job market, the business school offers a career-coaching program that assists students with fine-tuning their career goals. The program involves one-on-one mentoring by a staff of six professionals from the Oxford area. Consisting of two individual, 30-minute meetings with a career coach, the purpose of the program is to help junior-level students capture a vision for their careers and chart their courses through the post-college world of employment. This coming academic year, the school also will implement resume-review walk-in hours in the afternoon to assist students throughout their degree programs.
A career forum also is in place for MBA students.
“The forum is designed to educate students on the various industries in which they can work, to hear about the trends within those industries, and to learn about potential opportunities and career paths,” said Bethany Cooper, director of corporate relations and MBA services.
Students rotate to meet with more than 20 alumni on small group industry panels, building their knowledge and networks. The career forum also has been designed to include undergraduates who sign up ahead of the event and reserve a place with the MBA students. “We have done this event for the past six semesters for both MBA and undergraduate students with each panel addressing a different career topic,” Cooper said.
Career coaching and advising go hand-in-hand, so the school also provides a mandatory advising session with Cooper to help MBA students plan for their futures. During this session, they discuss career goals and map out a strategy for the year.
Planning can begin early, too. The corporate relations office is available to undergraduate and MBA students who are in need of a direction for their career goals. They often are referred to the Career Center or scheduled to meet with additional career professionals who can give them inside peeks into careers that interest them.
Throughout the year, students are given the opportunity to meet in person with potential employers. Career Day in the spring is one such occasion.
“We were pleased to have 20 employers attend our spring Business School Career Day, which was sponsored by Payliance,” Cooper said. The event was held at The Inn at Ole Miss and attracted 140 undergraduate and graduate students. AutoZone, Trustmark, Payliance and FNC were among the many attending employers looking for interns and full-time hires. The school encourages students to dress professionally, bring resumes and prepare their introductions in advance. James Quinn is one student who found success at Career Day. “Through the business school’s career fairs, I was able to get a part-time position with Payliance that will evolve into a full-time job after graduation,” he said.
Insurance Career Days, which focuses on careers in the risk management and insurance (RMI) industry, generally attracts 24-36 employers. The program is expanding, too.
“This year we did something different. We introduced our first annual fall Insurance Career Days back in October to accommodate employers who want to line up interns and entry-level employees earlier in the year. Our top students graduating in May often have accepted offers by November,” said Robertson Chair of Insurance Larry Cox. “I would venture to say that a strong majority of our graduates made their first contact with their ultimate employer through our Insurance Career Days events.”
This year the business school tried a new approach to employer recruiting by introducing Meet the Companies Night.
“Knowing that employers are not always able to travel to campus for multiple career fairs each year, we decided to partner with the Career Center and host a networking event for students the night before the All Majors Career Fair,” Cooper said.
Twenty employers attended Meet the Companies Night, where they were able to communicate with undergraduate and MBA candidates in a more casual networking environment.
“We received feedback from the employers that the event was one of the most successful ever, as it enabled them to engage with the 120 students in attendance in a meaningful way,” Cooper said. “Ole Miss students are strong networkers, and this event enabled them to showcase those skills to connect with potential employers.”
A number of internships and jobs resulted from the event, and another Meet the Companies night will be held in September 2011. Internships also are a key to potential job placement.
“It’s imperative that students begin the search for an internship early and approach it as a job search,” Cooper said.
All candidates for Bachelor of Business Administration degrees are encouraged to do internships, and the school maintains a database of possible leads in addition to what the Career Center posts. From emailing those leads to posting new internships on the website, the school tries to keep undergrads aware of the opportunities available to them.
Additionally, through the Recruit a Rebel campaign, the school seeks to merge Ole Miss students and graduates with alumni in the business world who are hiring. Among other strategies, the campaign reaches out to Ole Miss alumni via LinkedIn and other social media, requesting their support to recruit and hire Ole Miss business students.
Ella Jane Putnam, senior vice president of Trustmark Bank, is on the School of Business advisory board and has led the committee that developed the Recruit a Rebel program. She recruits students for Trustmark’s Management Development Associate (MDA) program.
“We recruit Ole Miss business students each year for our MDA program, which is a 12-month training program that enables the college recruit to make a smooth transition from the college environment to the banking environment,” Putnam said. “Our recruiting and selection efforts of MDA candidates from college campuses have proven to be a win-win for both the bank and the students. Over the years Ole Miss alumni have consistently been among the Trustmark group of recruits that have become successful bankers.”
The school also collects resumes, both in the fall and spring semesters, from all interested MBA students, and it builds a resume book that is distributed to employers and business school alumni boards. This spring, and each fall semester following, a resume book will be created for undergraduate seniors. This spring’s electronic Senior Resume Book will be available to alumni and corporate representatives interested in recruiting Ole Miss business students.
New initiatives are always in the works. This year, a new student group was organized to help build awareness among the students in the career search process. The members are majors in business and are from diverse groups all across campus. They assist with career functions and help with publicity and PR for career events. They also help in meeting and welcoming the corporate representatives that visit Ole Miss business.
Also in 2010, the school redesigned and launched a new state-of-the-art career website for business students. On the website, students find career advice, printable handouts, and job and internship postings. Additionally, the school started an Ole Miss Business Careers Facebook page, where they announce new jobs and internships.
