Grand Valley State University hosts many career events throughout the fall semester. From the Career and Internship Fair to the Healthcare Experience Panel, there are many opportunities for students of all majors to meet with and learn more about potential employers. However, it’s not unusual for students to feel nervous or overwhelmed to attend a job fair or panel. 

Women In Business (WIB), a new student organization, is holding a career event titled Career 102: How To Stand Out From A Crowd. The goal of the event is to help students feel confident with their career search through listening and networking with successful professionals.

The upcoming event will have a panel of six successful women business professionals. The panel members are each from a variety of well-known companies, such as Amway, JPMorgan Chase and Plante Moran. The panel will share their career experience and job searching advice with the audience. 

The in-person event will provide opportunities to interact with the panel, as well as a second segment where students can sit down and network with the professionals, faculty advisor Thuy Simpson said. 

“These women graduated between one to seven years ago, I think they have a lot of good advice that students can relate to because they were just in their shoes a couple of years ago,” Simpson said. “They recently graduated, have great jobs and are on their way up.” 

Simpson said their most recent event, Career 101: The Job of Getting A Job, went very well. The event had around 40 attendees. The organization expects a larger attendance in the future because they are partnering with the GVSU Career Center. 

The Career Center will help WIB reach out to students who are interested in the event. Despite the organization’s name, the upcoming event is open to all GVSU students regardless of their gender identity. 

“Our goal is to have professional development events that are open to everyone, all students,” Simpson said. “Whether you are male or female or business students or non-business students, to get a job you need to set yourself apart.”

The club hopes the event will help all students well-position themselves for meaningful and well-compensated internships and jobs. 

GVSU students, like Junior Lilie Diotte, said they are excited about this opportunity.

“Even though I’m not a business major, I think this event would help me become more confident in my career search. I want to be successful but I’m afraid to put myself out there,” Diotte said. “This event seems a lot less intimidating than other career events.” 

For their Fall 2021 Career series, WIB plans to host more career-related, stress management, fundraising and community outreach events. In November, the club is hoping to have a therapy dog event. 

Career 102: How To Stand Out From A Crowd will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 19 in the Devos Loosemore Auditorium. To learn more or to RSVP, WIB asks students to submit a google form, which can be found in their Instagram bio @wibgvsu.