Professional Development Month

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MONTH

Submitted to the Business Honors Program of The University of North Carolina at Charlotte In partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduating with Business Honors

Prepared by Maxine Cha Stephanie Hindle Celia Wang Shanghua Yang Majors: Accounting, Economics, Finance, International Business, and Management Belk College of Business April 14, 2015 ABSTRACT

Many of today’s college graduates are unprepared for the workforce. They have completed their degrees and are fully equipped with the necessary technical skills, but they lack the skills needed for success within an office environment. Skills such as leadership, teamwork, effective communication, or problem solving skills are all necessary functions for success in many business positions and lacking these skills leads to a gap that the workplace must face as they try to mold and develop the new generation of workers.

Our group thesis proposed the idea of hosting a professional development month complete with workshops on various soft skills or knowledge areas that employers are looking for in candidates. As the Belk College of Business grows in size, there should be a shift towards implementing professional development events to shape the next generation of graduates outside of technical courses. By initiating this event, we hope it will be revived in the coming years to continue to provide the resources necessary to the undergraduates of the college as they prepare for life after graduation. There were many stages to the planning of this event, and while we were faced with challenges we have identified these pitfalls in an effort for the next class that may host this event to review and make the necessary changes needed. INTRODUCTION

The Problem Statement

As students of the Belk College of Business at the University of North Carolina at

Charlotte, we strive to be leaders, team players, and real world professionals. We are the face of our university, and we commit to upholding the shared values of our school such as integrity, knowledge and innovation, excellence, diversity and inclusion, and global citizenship. These are the values of the Belk College of Business, and these are the values that we keep with us as we graduate and transition into business professionals.

However, before we can lead successful lives as Belk College alumni and contribute to the greater Charlotte community, we must gain the proper knowledge and develop the necessary tools to succeed. We begin this process of development by joining on-campus organizations such as the Business Honors Program, Enactus, Business Learning Community, or the Student

Managed Investment Fund. These organizations are well-respected on the UNC Charlotte campus as they are cultivated networks of business students who, after graduation, contribute back to the Charlotte community through offered internships, meet-and-greet opportunities, and sometimes grants. These organizations are also structured to challenge a student’s natural ability for learning and hard work. With requisite courses and workshops, these students are exposed to more than just the regular Belk College curriculum, they are also exposed to other ambitious and self-motivated students. These peers later become the professional network on which these students build their careers.

Unfortunately, many students do not have the opportunity to join these organizations as they have certain prerequisites prior to joining. In order to combat this, the Student Center for

Professional Development and the UNC Charlotte Career Center offers other opportunities to make up this disadvantages.. As universities around the nation offer professional development opportunities to their students, the Belk College of Business does the same by providing informational workshops and meet-and-greets with Charlotte professionals.

However, even with all the opportunities that the Belk College of Business and the UNC

Charlotte Career Center have provided, students continue to remain unprepared for the workforce. In a 2013 survey conducted by Gallup, a prominent research and consulting organization, employers stated that they did not believe college graduates were prepared for the workforce. Of the 623 business leaders surveyed, only 11% strongly agreed that higher education in the United States were successful at preparing their students for work after graduation. In contrast, 17% strongly disagreed. The survey went further by asking these employers to rate the quality of higher institutions in the United States and only 37% strongly agreed that the universities were of the highest caliber while 32% strongly disagreed (Gallup,

2013).

Furthermore, in a 2013 survey conducted by Harris Interactive, a global leader in market research since 1997, 39% of the 1,000 hiring managers surveyed stated that they did not believe college graduates were prepared for work in their field of study. In comparison, 50% of the

2,000 students surveyed agreed that they were very well-prepared. The survey went further by asking if hiring managers believed that college graduates were prepared in tasks such as team projects, persuasive arguments, and management discussions. In all topics surveyed, the students ranked themselves higher than the hiring managers (Chegg, 2013).

With the evidence from these surveys, there appears to exist a gap between what employers want in their employees and what students can provide. According to the article “It

Takes More than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success” written by Hart Research Associates and published on the Association of American Colleges &

Universities’ website, employers are looking for more than just a college degree. They are looking for employees with innovation, self-motivation, communication and written skills, and problem-solving skills (Hart Research Associates, 2013). To develop these skills, colleges must provide the necessary courses and opportunities for their students to learn. Without them, an employer’s only choice is to hire for the highest degree.

Due to this bleak perspective, we propose February as Professional Development Month with several informational workshops. As students, many of us are unaware that employers view us as little more than children on a playground. This means that although employers understand that we lack their desired level of knowledge, they prefer at least that we understand the terms and conditions of our fields of studies. As a poor truth, many of us do not. Ask any student and they will tell you that we focus on the requisite courses, the tests, the grades, our friends, and our present lives. Only a handful of us plan our future and plan it well. For example, of all the accounting students in the Belk College of Business, only so many of us understand that a B.S. in Accounting means knowing the differences between a balance sheet and income statement and what expenses belong to where. In our collegiate lives, we easily forget that life after graduation requires strategic planning and not having a savings account means more than it does now.

Therefore, it is beneficial to provide the students of Belk College with the following workshops: “Interview Tips,” “Choosing the Right Major for Your Career,” “Sell Yourself with an Elevator Pitch,” “ The Marshmallow Challenge,” “Get Over It and Speak!,” “Thinking about

Graduate School?,” and “Excel Tips & Tricks.” The goal of these workshops is to provide the students with information that they will not otherwise gain in their classes. For example, in “Personal Finance,” the students will learn how to create a budget and build up personal credit scores. In “Thinking about Graduate School,” the students will explore how to select a graduate program and how to better prepare themselves in graduate school. With each workshop, students are encouraged to take more direct control of their professional development. Along with these workshops hosted by us or speakers, resume drop-ins will also be provided by the advisors of the Student Center for Professional Development on Thursday, February 5 and

Tuesday, February 10.

Research Process

In Fall 2014, we began the process of planning for Professional Development month.

Listed below are our research objectives:

 Determine the goals of Professional Development Month with Ms. Kristine

Hopkins, Director of the Student Center for Professional Development in the Belk

College of Business.

 Brainstorm possible topics for presentations by researching through online

databases provided by Atkins Library, business magazines, and employer newsletters.

 Execute individual interviews with student peers to gain further research on what

they deem important to their professional development.

 Conduct several focus group to narrow the list of possible topics as well as

weekly times students are available to attend these workshops.

 Survey the students in the Belk College to select the topics to be presented.

 Design a banner for students to discuss their concerns in college.

 Promote our events to students and professors

 Research the selected topics and prepare the presentations. A Rationale for the Research

Last year, the Student Center for Professional Development hosted several workshops over the course of two school days. Bringing in Charlotte professionals, the workshops or “30- minute clinics” provided a variety of useful information and opportunities for students to network. These workshops were on a variety of topics such as How to Use LinkedIn, How to

Successfully Network, and How to Build a Strong Resume. These workshops also provided the students with one-on-one interviews with professionals from large Charlotte offices such as

Target and TJ Maxx. When the conference was over, students provided positive feedback.

However, the main limitation of last year’s workshops was that many students were unable to attend due to conflicting class schedules over the two days.

For Professional Development Month, conflicting schedules will not be a big problem for most students as the workshops will be held at times suggested by the student body of Belk

College. Likewise, the topics for these workshops are based on student needs. Therefore, they have every reason to attend these workshops. Furthermore, as these workshops are presented, the students will be encouraged to be proactive in their professional growth. As college students, we are taught that it is better to prepare now rather than later while opportunities exist.

With these workshops, we aim to help our peers remember that advice.

Summary

The Student Center for Professional Development will sponsor February as Professional

Development Month. Under the guidance of its director, Ms. Hopkins, we will host six workshops on a variety of topics that the students of Belk College have surveyed and deemed crucial to their professional growth. With each workshop, our goal is to encourage the students to improve themselves through opportunities that are available to them through the school or their work. We present these workshops also to inform them that, in today’s market, a college degree is not enough. To have a successful career, students must also have the knowledge and self-motivation to always keep striving to be better than they are and to keep learning. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Professional Development Events

For our preliminary research, we looked into other business schools and examples of professional development events they have hosted nationwide. One of our first ideas for a professional development event was the idea of a symposium. Schools such as the University of

North Carolina at Chapel Hill, New York University, and the University of Southern California, have all held symposiums within their respective business schools on topics such as social innovation, economic outlook, or general topics for undergraduate business students.

With this as inspiration, we researched the idea of holding a speaker series on Charlotte’s economic outlook, current events in the business world, or innovation and technology. This was one of the ideas we presented at the beginning of the school year as a potential event. The idea was that students would be able to apply their knowledge from economics, finance, or management classes to real-world applications while also bringing distinguished speakers to campus. The second event that we considered hosting was an ethics conference or simulation, which we envisioned as a day-long event similar to a poverty simulation. We were interested in hosting an interactive development event to attract students. An ethics conference appealed to our group due to the lack of similar events and courses offered for business students at UNC

Charlotte. Corporate social responsibility is a popular trend in businesses today as firms aim to attract and maintain shareholders in the midst of other firms’ revelations of unethical behavior.

In the end, we were encouraged to plan a professional development month for the Belk

College of Business in partnership with the Student Center for Professional Development. The basic premise was to hold “minute clinics” on soft skills for students to prepare for their careers and life after graduation. The University of Washington hosts an event similar to this in their Department of Communications including a job fair, mentor lunches, alumni and recruiter panels and a speed-networking event all designed to help students connect with professionals and prepare for recruitment.

It is common to hear that today’s college graduates are not prepared for the workforce when speaking to recruiters and managers. They may have the technical skills required, but they are lacking the skills needed in the workplace to enhance their career and achieve results for their organization. The National Careers Service list some of the top ranked soft skills employers look for in new hires, which can be seen below.

1. Efficient Communication

2. Making smart decisions

3. Commitment to the job and the firm

4. Flexibility

5. Time management

6. Leadership skills

7. Problem-solving skills

8. Being a team player

9. Accepting responsibility

10. Ability to work under pressure

Our aim in developing this month-long event was to provide a starting point for students to not only gain these skills, but to realize why they should improve or develop their expertise in these areas.

Planning an Event Before exploring a variety of professional development topics for our event, we first assessed the literature on event planning, specifically revolving around professional and campus events. The major theme throughout the literature in this field is getting organized and prioritizing resources. Whether those resources are time, money, or meeting logistics, it was fairly important for us to establish an organized planning system to get each part functioned together.

Another common theme was determining and establishing the true purpose and objectives of the event before organizing the actual event. In a short article in OfficePro entitled, “Meetings in a Hurry,” the author states that as event planners we must discover the 5

“W’s” before planning a meeting:

1. What is the purpose of the meeting?

2. Who needs to be there?

3. Where does it need to be held?

4. When does it need to be held?

5. What is your budget?

After discovering the purpose and setting goals for the events, the article uncovers organization and resources required in planning the venue, budgeting, and communicating with potential attendees. Also suggested within the article is the creation of a "meeting in a box" so resources and checklists are available when planning multiple events. This idea would ideally help smooth the process when planning events in a short period of time, and it would help in cases of emergency cancellations or rescheduling of events.

In the article “Nine Steps to a Successful Campus Professional Development Event,”

Elizabeth Nunley, lists the details that need to be a priority in event planning. After the first step of a planning committee is formed and a plan for organizing all the details is in place, then the next steps are to set the location and times. Arrangements should be made well in advance, and communicated throughout the group. One of her suggestions is to create a detailed timeline to cover all details, even simple things such as room temperature, refreshments, and allowing breaks if the event will be longer. She also stresses how important it is for the marketing aspect to start early and often, and for the importance of this part of event planning not to be underestimated. Her last tip is about the evaluation process and measuring the success of the event after it has passed.

To ensure the success of our events, we used a survey to poll the undergraduate students in the Belk College of Business. Before creating our survey, we did some initial research on how to ask the right questions to gather the best results. In “Leveraging Surveys for a

Successful Event,” an article on Cvent, four rules are presented to ensure the event is a success in the eyes of the attendees. First we must poll the potential audience before the event to get a sense of content that appeals to them. Then the author recommends creating a survey that keeps attendees interested during the event and as a way to increase audience participation. The purpose of the survey will be to get attendees talking about the issues at hand and to provide a dialogue between the audience and the event planners. Lastly, it is recommended that attendees are surveyed after the event for feedback and suggestions for the next event.

After crafting a list of ideas in the realm of professional development with the help of focus groups, which can be seen in Table 2.1, we created a survey for the students of the Belk

College of Business to learn what workshops they would be interested in attending. After the surveys, it was clear that students were most interested in the below topics.

1. Choosing Your Major 2. Elevator Speeches

3. Excel Skills

4. Graduate School

5. Interview Tips

6. Leadership Development

7. Personal Finance

8. Public Speaking

After receiving survey results, we decided we would host 30-minute workshops for each of these topics. More specifically, after presenting the idea to our advisor we agreed that we would host five of the workshops and worked with speakers for the other three. The topics we decided to research included Microsoft Excel skills, interview tips, leadership skills, personal finance for college students, and getting over the fear of public speaking.