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jhameiaI don't know if I mentioned it on this LJ. A few weeks ago, a SMU alumni came to make a short presentation in my Romantic Movement class on a business dinner that the Alumni hold every year.
Essentially, it's a dinner where the SMU Alumni Association invite business CEOs and clients from all over North America to discuss leadership skills, management strategies and ideas. Each table has two students and six CEOs, and they try to match the students to the CEOs of the industry that they would be interested in. It's three hours of discussion and networking. For any ambitious student, this is the chance to get to know top CEOs, wow them, and potentially earn employment.
But getting in isn't easy. Students have to send in a resume and a cover letter, stating why they should be chosen to attend this dinner. Normally, only Commerce students would apply, because the environment here for Commerce students is perfect for that - the Commerce Society holds networking wine-and-cheese events, as well as employment conferences where students go and bring along their resumes in case a potential employer is looking for someone.
This thing is so big, that before the actual dinner itself, students have to go for an etiquette lesson so they know what to expect from the dinner experience itself (aside from the ming-boggling prospect of sitting with CEOs from corporations).
Arts students are rarely let on about these gigs, because for most part, corporations aren't too interested in Arts students, and Arts students themselves don't necessarily go out of their way to attend these sorts of things. This year, however, the SMU Alumni Association decided to present this to Arts classes, even though the chances of students actually applying in the first place are slim.
When I watched Tammy give her presentation, it just clicked in me and I knew I HAD to do something. I'm not good at writing cover letters... I've only ever written one, and that was for this job I've got right now at the Writing Centre. I typed it up straightaway and sent it to my dad for editing, and he read through it and had me re-word some stuff, and he wrote, "That's a good cover letter. Even your dad's not that aggressive."
My resume's not really all that impressive... not a great deal of formal work, not a great deal of volunteer work. To make up for the weakness of the resume, I had to write a strong cover letter that made it clear that I fucking deserve to be at this dinner... stuff that's not normally in my resume, like being an online moderator at ShinraOnline, spearheading the SMUSA forums. Being production manager this year was my big score.
This morning, while I was watching Andromeda (Kirk Williams of Conference Services had interrupted my watching Stargate SG-1 earlier), Tammy gave me a call, and since I was still watching TV, I didn't have time to recall who she was until she dropped the bomb on me:
I'M GOING!!!!!!
Tammy was really happy that SOMEONE from my class had applied, because she had to come out all the way from Clayton Park (quite a drive aways) for a five minute presentation to a bunch of Arts students who didn't even look very interested. (No one from my class applied except me.) There were a few other students, mostly from the Criminology department, who applied as well. I'm waiting to see how it goes and how many Arts students are actually going.
Apparently she saw me a couple of times at the theatre attending rehearsals, and was sure it was me that applied, and she had to ask, "Are you the one with blue hair?"
I'll be seated with the Chief Editor of Progress Magazine (a magazine I never heard of until now), which is a leading business magazine in Atlantic Canada, and probably some of the journalists. Tammy hasn't confirmed the details yet. But soon I'll be receiving an e-mail telling me who I'll be sitting with, and some information about them. I'm already reading some of the stuff on the website. I'll also be provided with a date on when the etiquette class will be, and other details I should know about.
*bounces* So, as you can tell, I'm terribly excited.
Essentially, it's a dinner where the SMU Alumni Association invite business CEOs and clients from all over North America to discuss leadership skills, management strategies and ideas. Each table has two students and six CEOs, and they try to match the students to the CEOs of the industry that they would be interested in. It's three hours of discussion and networking. For any ambitious student, this is the chance to get to know top CEOs, wow them, and potentially earn employment.
But getting in isn't easy. Students have to send in a resume and a cover letter, stating why they should be chosen to attend this dinner. Normally, only Commerce students would apply, because the environment here for Commerce students is perfect for that - the Commerce Society holds networking wine-and-cheese events, as well as employment conferences where students go and bring along their resumes in case a potential employer is looking for someone.
This thing is so big, that before the actual dinner itself, students have to go for an etiquette lesson so they know what to expect from the dinner experience itself (aside from the ming-boggling prospect of sitting with CEOs from corporations).
Arts students are rarely let on about these gigs, because for most part, corporations aren't too interested in Arts students, and Arts students themselves don't necessarily go out of their way to attend these sorts of things. This year, however, the SMU Alumni Association decided to present this to Arts classes, even though the chances of students actually applying in the first place are slim.
When I watched Tammy give her presentation, it just clicked in me and I knew I HAD to do something. I'm not good at writing cover letters... I've only ever written one, and that was for this job I've got right now at the Writing Centre. I typed it up straightaway and sent it to my dad for editing, and he read through it and had me re-word some stuff, and he wrote, "That's a good cover letter. Even your dad's not that aggressive."
My resume's not really all that impressive... not a great deal of formal work, not a great deal of volunteer work. To make up for the weakness of the resume, I had to write a strong cover letter that made it clear that I fucking deserve to be at this dinner... stuff that's not normally in my resume, like being an online moderator at ShinraOnline, spearheading the SMUSA forums. Being production manager this year was my big score.
This morning, while I was watching Andromeda (Kirk Williams of Conference Services had interrupted my watching Stargate SG-1 earlier), Tammy gave me a call, and since I was still watching TV, I didn't have time to recall who she was until she dropped the bomb on me:
I'M GOING!!!!!!
Tammy was really happy that SOMEONE from my class had applied, because she had to come out all the way from Clayton Park (quite a drive aways) for a five minute presentation to a bunch of Arts students who didn't even look very interested. (No one from my class applied except me.) There were a few other students, mostly from the Criminology department, who applied as well. I'm waiting to see how it goes and how many Arts students are actually going.
Apparently she saw me a couple of times at the theatre attending rehearsals, and was sure it was me that applied, and she had to ask, "Are you the one with blue hair?"
I'll be seated with the Chief Editor of Progress Magazine (a magazine I never heard of until now), which is a leading business magazine in Atlantic Canada, and probably some of the journalists. Tammy hasn't confirmed the details yet. But soon I'll be receiving an e-mail telling me who I'll be sitting with, and some information about them. I'm already reading some of the stuff on the website. I'll also be provided with a date on when the etiquette class will be, and other details I should know about.
*bounces* So, as you can tell, I'm terribly excited.