For Grand Valley State University students looking to network, talk to experienced professionals and receive helpful advice for their major, the Seidman College of Business is hosting a Career Development Evening Conference on Monday, Feb. 5, at the DeVos Center Loosemore Auditorium from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

With a conference like this, students can expect to receive honest guidance and information from recent alumni of GVSU who will be there to represent an array of different companies.

Eric Anderson, a senior at GVSU and the president of the GVSU chapter of the American Production and Inventory Control Society, is the event coordinator for this conference. With the help of the GVSU Career Center and multiple student organizations, Anderson is in charge of planning and executing this event. 

“I’ve always wanted to redefine the word ‘collaboration,’ so I gathered 12 other organizations and included the Career Center to see if we could come up with something that would be meaningful to the students,” Anderson said. 

Three hundred students have already RSVPed, and Anderson said this is the largest event he has ever taken on. Free of charge, the conference is open to students of any major seeking professional advice. To combat confusion, Anderson made it clear that this conference is for students of all majors. 

“We made sure to bring in a good mix of different companies so that students of all majors can benefit from an event like this,” Anderson said. The event is also LIB 100-approved.

Recent alumni of GVSU will discuss their professional experiences and offer advice to students hoping to be successful in their post-graduate careers. The conference will start with an hour-long panel discussion and Q&A period in which students can text their questions to www.polleverywhere.com and receive honest, firsthand advice and information from six different panelists who graduated from GVSU. 

Anderson feels confident that the GVSU graduates will be able to offer diverse perspectives on their personal experiences in a professional workplace post-college, saying, “The first six panelists will speak upon what it’s like to successfully launch their careers, as a lot of them are entrepreneurs themselves.”

Following the panel, students will have the chance to learn on a more personal level with breakout sessions. During these 15-minute rotations, with five-minute breaks in between, students are encouraged to dig deeper into topics such as interview strategies, personal branding and creating beneficial professional relationships. 

Along with the many GVSU alumni attending, several companies and student organizations will also be present to help students further their understanding of their chosen career path and offer resources to help ensure success. The companies collaborating with GVSU on this event are Abbott Laboratories, Amway, Charter Capital Partners, Deloitte, Fiat Chrysler Automotive, Michigan Small Business Development Center, US Signal and Wolverine Worldwide. 

The student organizations involved are the American Marketing Association, Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization, Enterprise Systems Student Union, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Investment Portfolio Organization, Seidman Supply Chain Management Association, Society of Automotive Engineers, Society for Human Resource Management, Product Design and Manufacturing, Professional Sales Association, Phi Chi Theta and the Public Relations Student Society of America.

Jacob Hemingway, a senior at GVSU and the president of the GVSU chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, believes this event has the potential to become a tradition. 

“We would definitely love to see this conference progress and grow in the years to come,” Hemingway said. 

For more information, visit www.gvsu.edu/events/career-development-evening-conference-1/.