NEW WSBE CLASS PREPARES STUDENTS FOR “WORKING WORLD”
September 14, 2010:With the economic climate still uncertain, a new class at UNH’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics is trying to help students gain an advantage against their more experienced competition.
The course, Marketing 598 “Selling Yourself in a Difficult Economy,” is designed to help students land the job of their dreams through various exercises that prepare them for entrance into the working world.
Throughout the class, students use different forms of social networking, review their resumes and participate in role-playing situations. They also take part in other interactive activities that are meant to simulate situations they may encounter in the job market.
A great deal of the class is structured around the interactions between students, according to Catherine Blake, president of Sales Protocol International and the professor for the class.
Blake said that students would have to pay significant amounts money for public speaking classes and career coaches in order to get the same training.
Because the course is relatively new, various methods have been implemented to spread the word, including flyers around campus and a continuously updated Facebook group created by former students. The page informs students about job opportunities that came from the class.
According to Blake, the most important tool for recruiting students is word of mouth.
“Most of the people in the class are referrals who went through the class in the spring,” Blake said.
Blake has received many emails from students who have completed the course and have had success in finding jobs using the tools acquired in the class. She hopes that students that have taken the class in the past will continue to reach out and inform future students about the benefits of taking the class.
Gregg Bowen, a 2010 alumnus, said that the class helps students make their accomplishments and resume look attractive to employers and helps students overcome any fears associated with public speaking.
Bowen, who is self-employed, said that the class has helped him develop confidence in his public speaking, which helped him with his future employment opportunities.
Students taking the class this year are looking for the success past students have had.
Matt Law, a senior accounting and management major, said that he has learned a lot in the short length of time he has been enrolled in the class. He acknowledged that there was a potential to learn more as the semester progressed. Law also recognized that the class would help him not only land a job, but give him a leg up in the highly competitive market for internships.
“A lot of internships fill up quickly,” Law said.
But students have found Blake to be the most valuable asset of the class. Lisa Cash, a senior kinesiology major, knew that the working world was tough, but she realized in class that Blake was going to help in leading her and her classmates in the right direction.
It’s kind of scary going into the real world,” Cash said. “It seems like she will prepare us well.”
Katie LaFortune, a class of 2010 alumna and a leasing professional for Watermark in Cambridge, Mass., felt the same way. She said that picking a career was tough, but that having a professor like Blake helps gives students confidence to move forward.
“I recommended that class with everyone that I speak with who still goes [to UNH],” LaFortune said. “Lots of us don’t know what we want to do. It’s good to have someone with lots of experience steer you in the right direction.”
Even though it is very early in the semester, some students are already sensing that the class will be worth their time.
Kristin Cocchiaro, a senior communications major, said that this is the only class that can offer this type of specialized help.
“I think I’m going to get everything I can out of it,” Cocchiaro said.
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Catherine Blake, President
Sales Protocol International
cblake@salesprotoocol.com
www.salesprotocol.com