Networking and recruiting is already very daunting and difficult for undergraduate students, but it can be especially hard for freshmen and sophomores. When I participated in networking events as a freshman last year, I had the distinct feeling of being a mouse scurrying between the feet of giants — irrelevant at best, a nuisance at worst.
I felt unsupported and completely out of my element, and it wasn’t until I joined a student organization this year that I felt like I was receiving the proper mentorship and resources I needed to succeed.
While it’s great that I managed to meet many business-savvy people through my organization, the burden really shouldn’t fall on student organizations to pick up the slack when BBA Career Management, the McCombs School of Business’ career services department, fails to provide adequate support for students, especially underclassmen.
BBA Career Management needs to be more proactive in supporting McCombs underclassmen by providing specialized workshops, events and consolidated lists of opportunities that prepare them for future networking and recruiting.
“BBA Career Services hadn’t really helped me network with people as a freshman,” accounting sophomore Mayeli Saldana said. “I’m in (the UT Hispanic Business Student Association), which hosts virtual recruiting events now, and I feel like that was what actually helped me get more involved in recruiting.”
As McCombs professional development events geared toward freshmen and sophomores are so scarce and poorly promoted, it is almost a necessity for students to become involved in student organizations to get the support they need.
“If you’re not involved in a student organization, you’re not going to get the supplemental professional development skills, and you’re not going to get the really nitty gritty company interactions,” said Benjamin Arellano, a supply chain management sophomore.
Arellano is the director of human resources and an active member of Texas Association of Latino Professionals for America, which he credits with helping him improve his networking and business communication skills.
“I attended a symposium hosted by Liberty Mutual last year that I found because of my organization, but I didn’t really see it advertised by McCombs,” Arellano said. “If McCombs had advertised it much more, I definitely think more students like me would’ve applied to that symposium.”
BBA Career Management career coaches send out a newsletter every week detailing upcoming events and opportunities, but the sheer length and lack of targeted messaging means that most emails go unopened and unread.
“The emails we get are basically 15 pages long,” unspecified business sophomore Sebastian Ordas said. “If students (were) able to self-select categories they identify with or are interested in, we could get more relevant and concise information.”
BBA Career Management should make every effort to factor in underclassmen’s unique identities and specific interests when planning workshops and networking events. The department should also reach out to students who qualify for special professional development opportunities such as the symposium Arellano attended.
While it’s great that these opportunities are becoming more common, it won’t help if students don’t know they exist.
In an emailed statement from Morgan Medina, the director of student services for BBA Career Management, the department stated that undergraduates have shown interest in “career exploration programming, recruiting … and general interview prep.” The department said it plans to incorporate resources that will help all students succeed in the current virtual landscape.
If students aren’t supported from the very beginning, it’s unrealistic to expect them to suddenly develop full-fledged professional communication skills by the time more “high-stakes” recruiting rolls around junior year.
BBA Career Management must provide more workshops and networking opportunities specifically for freshmen and sophomores if they want to ensure McCombs students’ future success.
Chen is a finance and Plan II sophomore from Austin, Texas.
