Tag Archives: Aviation Business

Last Minute Career Expo Tips

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Tomorrow is the BIG DAY! For those of you who are attending the Industry/Career Expo, I have prepared a few last minute tips that you can use before, during and after the event!

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I got my Fast Pass!

Before
Here is a list of things you can do before the event:

Fast Pass pick up: Today is the last day to get your Fast Pass early to avoid long lines at the day of the event. Stop by Career Services with your Eagle Card to get your Fast Pass. It just takes a few seconds!

Download the Embry-Riddle Career Fair Plus app: The app is available on Google Play and the iTunes App Store. You will have access to the list of employers, which includes their company description, the job positions available, and any type of work authorizations required. The app also offers a map of the fair so you will not get lost the day of the event.

Do some research: Get to know the companies you are interested in working for. Navigate on their websites to know what jobs are currently offered and what are the requirements. Review the job requirements and qualifications. Companies want you to show them that you are interested in working for their company.

Review your resume: Take a look at your resume one last time to make sure that it is properly formatted and free of spelling errors. Click here for resume tips!

Practice interviews: Practice your elevator speech that you will use to introduce yourself to the employers. Make good impression. Additionally, get together with a friend and simulate an interview. Practice answering questions about the company or about the position you would like to work for. If you are applying for a particular position, go look on Glassdoor to see if there are any sample interview questions. Click here for other interviewing tips and sample questions!

Attend the info sessions: You should attend the information sessions of the companies you are interested in. From past experience, many of them gives you important tips such as how to approach an employer and how to shake hands. Below is the schedule of the Company Information Sessions prior to the Industry/Career Expo.

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Spring 2017 Company Info Sessions

On Site
Dress Code: During the event, you should look professional. You should wear clean, pressed business attire and be properly groomed.

What to bring?: You should bring your EagleCard, a notepad/portfolio to take notes and to hold copies of your resumes, a list of the companies you are interested in, and business cards.

After
Following the event, you may want to send thank you notes to the employers you had significant interaction with or whom you interviewed with.

It’s definitely okay if you don’t get an interview during your first year of college. I used my first time at the Expo as practice. I did not get any interviews, but I went to talk to the various recruiters to get more information. You can ask them what the company is looking for to hire students. They are usually looking for extra curricular activities, clubs and past work experience. Use the following year to boost up your resume!

Hope this helps!

Nicolas

Business Capstone Class Simulation

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What would be your first impression of a class which starts with the following lines on the syllabus: “In this class, you will be running your own company as part of a student team. You will be stressed, confused, mad and frustrated. You will make mistakes. You will also have a lot of fun”? You would probably feel scared right?

This syllabus excerpt is from the Strategic Management class. If you are a student with a Business major, you will have to take this class during your last semester at Embry-Riddle.

As stated above, we are running our own company as part of a computer simulation. Our class is evenly divided in six groups, so my group and I compete against five other teams. In the simulation, we create and sell a product. We have to manage many aspects of our company, such as research and development, production, marketing, finance and human resources.

We are currently in the second practice round. There are a total of three practice rounds before things get real. Even though it’s only practice, we put effort and hard work because we want to learn as much as we can before the simulation starts and we get graded on performance. Our group meets on a weekly basis to take decisions for the company that will be applied for the following round. Every round corresponds to a new calendar year.

Even though we just started the simulation, I am very excited about it and I hope to finish high in the ranking! I will give an update later on how our company is evolving.

Another Simulation!
I’m doing a simulation in another class this semester! This one is in Aviation Labor Relations where the class is a mix of lectures and the simulation. This simulation is not done on the computer but rather during class time.

Let me briefly explain how it works. All the students enrolled in the course work for an airline named “Blue Star Airlines,” based in Daytona Beach. Students can work in the management team, as a pilot, as a ramp worker or as a mechanic. For the main purpose of the class, there are also other positions related to unions, such as an ALPA (Air Line Pilots Association) representative and a IAM (International Association of Machinists) representative.

I “work” in the management team as Supervisor of Ramp Operations. I selected this position because I have always been interested in airline/airport operations.

There are many issues we have to deal with. In the past week, one of my ramp workers was injured while working on the ramp. This week, there were concerns about pilot duty time FAA violations. Next week, we will have a vote on whether each department of the company wants to join/form a union.

I think simulations are fun and a different way of learning the course material. It’s great to do something else than listening to class lectures for a whole semester. And you, have you taken a class before that involved some sort of simulation?

Until next time!

Nicolas

First Few Weeks of the Fall 2016 Semester

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Hello there!

I’m getting back into the swing of things at school; it has not been too bad of an adjustment going from working all the time to going back to being a student after my summer internship. 14332979_965948856864735_4286756368951495946_n

So far, the Fall 2016 semester is off to a great start! I am taking a lot of fun/interesting courses: Organizational Behavior, Corporate Finance, the Joy of Science, Technology and the Modern Civilization (an upper-level humanities course), and Economics of Air Transportation.

This semester has a bit of a different feel compared to my first semester at Riddle two years ago. My courses this semester require a lot more reading, but they provide a nice way to challenge the way I think. For example in my humanities course, we are analyzing why people post things on social media and how deeply the message is rooted in the medium (the social platform that is being used to send the message…Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, etc). Since I have a bit of a social background, it has been fascinating have these discussions in class and through our assignments because it is something that I have never thought of.

Team work has also become a lot more frequent; in three out of my five classes this semester, I have completed at least one assignment that required groups, and it is only the end of the third week! However, this is a great way to gain some experience working in a team, and based on the interviews for internships, a question about team work came up in every single one.

The Career Services Office has been very busy! We are getting ready to host the annual Industry/Career Expo on October 6 with 101 different companies attending! I feel like a little kid again waiting for Christmas morning to finally come as October 6 quickly approaches. The week of the Industry/Career Expo is always my favorite because it is a great way to meet and network with alumni, watch other students get interviews for internships and jobs, and see an awesome event come together!

I am also working as a Peer Mentor in a University 101 course this semester; this is a class that freshman take usually their first semester at Embry-Riddle. It’s a fun class that helps prepare you for your time at Riddle. From Academic Study Plans to hearing from different offices on campus to making a resume, the class covers quite a bit. It has been a lot of fun working as a Peer Mentor, and it has reminded my of my freshman year quite a bit and how the last two years at Riddle have been awesome!

It’s going to be a busy semester, but I am fully energized and ready to enjoy it!

Until next time!

Jack