Many new graduates face the daunting task of finding a job in today’s competitive employment market. By blending elements of a traditional job fair with a business-networking event, the inaugural Global Leaders Festival looks to facilitate the process by highlighting the skills of the Gustavson School of Business’ 2014 B-Com graduates.
“We want to showcase the accomplishments of these students to the business community,” says Jennifer Gill, the experiential learning manager at the University of Victoria’s Peter B. Gustavson School of Business. “Not only will attendees get to interact with a larger number of students and see their websites detailing their accomplishments and experiences, they will be able to engage with other business professionals, something you are not always able to do at these events.”
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Gill’s award-winning course design for COM 405 (Career Preparation Across Borders), is globally accessible and allows student to customize their experiential learning over the course of a year.
“The course is truly global in nature,” says Gill. “Eighty-five per cent of the students have been on exchange, done internships, or completed volunteer projects in other parts of the world.”
Students create their own personal brand and then create a website to share their international, social development, technological, volunteer and professional development experiences with potential future employers. The Global Leaders Festival is the showcase for these projects.
The event, which will take place at the University of Victoria on July 31, will also feature keynote speaker Mike Arms, the CEO and President of the Helen Woodward Animal Centre in California. Arms is globally renown for integrating business systems into animal adoption programs, increasing their success rates.
“He truly does epitomize the social responsibility and community impact model of business,” says Gill.
