On Wednesday night I had the opportunity to attend the Nichols Business Development Event. This was an event put on by the Nichols College Career and Professional Development Center and was an opportunity to students to network and communicate with Nichols alumni that worked in a variety of business fields and roles within them. The event enabled students to understand job positions that could be held post-graduation and the ways that these alumni discovered these roles. The night allowed for new connections and knowledge to be spread from the alumni to the current students, fueling the alumni-student body connection that Nichols has done a great job of fostering.
During my time with the multiple alumni’s that were introduced to me, I was able to learn about an assortment of different chances that were available in a number of fields that had previously not be on my radar. An example of this was when I was talking to alumni Ryan Flavin who has been working with Stryker, a medical supply company, and how his time selling their equipment all over New England has treated him and what he has gained from his experiences. This conversation opened my eyes to the concept of how many avenues are open to post graduation work that I had not considered yet. Ryan had explained his story and how he began working at Stryker and was in the same scenario as me, not aware of some of the avenues that were available to him after graduation.
Another one of the alumni that I was able to meet and talk to was Jude Millette, a recent graduate that worked for Enterprise Mobility in one of their starter roles known as a management trainee. While we talked, he was able to explain how his role allowed him to grow his managerial skills as they work to grow employees and hire only within their own company. This was further shown to me by talking to Ross Popham, a graduate that also worked with Enterprise Mobility and had worked up to being a truck rental assistant when he started as a management trainee. He had explained to me how Enterprise was focused on growing their employees’ skills and preparing them to take higher roles in the company. The concept of a company so focused on developing the personnel that they already had, rather than hiring new ones was something that was intriguing to me. Through conversations with alumni, students could get real world experience and knowledge that allows them to get a new perspective that prepares themselves for the real world.
Throughout the night, I was able to take the opportunity to introduce myself to a number of Nichols alumni that were able to tell me about the number of different fields they worked in and the journeys they took to get to where they are. The night was truly an eye-opening experience that allowed for a new insight on the possibilities that are open to me when looking at a post-graduation reality. I am thankful to all of the alumni that took the time out of their busy schedules to meet with the Nichols students as well as all the pro-staff that organized the event and allowed us to take advantage of such a great opportunity.
