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Authors of new career book pay tribute to NC State Poole College student development program

Authors of a new book designed to help job seekers get noticed in today’s tough market pay tribute in their acknowledgements to an NC State Poole College of Management program created to provide a solid career-building foundation for its new undergraduate students.

Authors Dawn Ohaver Moyer and Jenny Casagrande, senior marketing professionals with GlaxoSmithKline in Research Triangle Park, N.C., and co-founders of Potential Essential, LLC, served this past year on a team of professional mentors for Poole College’s Student Network Groups. The SNGs, modeled after corporate affinity groups, are a key component of the college’s Diversity, Professionalism and Academic Success in Management (M100) course for new students.

“We acknowledged Poole College because the team and students inspire us to reach further,” the authors state in an email interview. “We developed this book – Keys to Marketing You to get the Job – at night and on weekends, and their inspiration kept us going when we were exhausted. In the way we hope we offer support for the SNG students, we found unwavering support from the students, faculty and staff for our efforts,” they wrote.

They accepted an invitation to serve as SNG mentors, they wrote, because, “We are both passionate about helping college students transition from school to the workforce. Our vision is to guide individuals to discover their inner potential, to become essential in the workplace, and to remain key to the organization. We feel our vision strongly aligns with the Student Network Groups program as a part of the M100 course. The SNG program and Potential Essential intersect in our mutual mission to teach professionalism while reinforcing the need to increase awareness and respect for diversity and inclusion in the classroom and the workplace.”

Involvement in such community programs is aligned with their employer’s values as well. “We are fortunate that we work for a company that values volunteering opportunities to bring about positive change to communities,” they wrote.

When asked about the value to the students, the authors wrote, “We have seen tremendous growth from individuals in the class. It’s exciting to see students begin to awaken to the possibilities of their careers. We have the opportunity to watch them begin to understand the concept of professionalism, which, for us means balancing respect for self and others in the workplace. As students gain experience with the professional mentors, student mentors, professors and within their groups, their world expands, and with that their possibilities unfold,” they stated.

When asked to provide a few memorable moments, they focused on the connections made with individual students.

“Knowing we are one of hundreds of experiences students have in just one semester, we don’t often expect to hear back from many SNG group members after the semester ends. We try to follow up on LinkedIn or on email, but summer and winter breaks have a way of making time pass rapidly. We were so pleasantly surprised when we received a note from one of our group members, well after the semester had ended, thanking us for our support. This student felt our feedback had been the catalyst to successfully obtaining his internship of choice. This is what gets us up in the morning!” they wrote.

The two authors also accepted another SNG student member’s invitation to serve on a panel discussion diversity and inclusion in the workplace. “We were happy to serve on the panel and share our personal and professional perspectives with students and fellow panelists. We were honored to be considered as a go-to source for this sort of discussion. For us it means we’re becoming a trusted member of the Poole College community, and that’s invaluable,” they wrote.

Since starting to volunteer in similar roles with college students in 2012, they wrote, “We began to see a clear gap in the type of information available to the college audience. We kept noticing a disconnect between what students wanted and needed to hear, and what programs or organizations were offering.” That led them to write their book.

About the Poole College program, they wrote, “Not all colleges have a program like SNG. When this was suggested to us by a previous professional mentor, we jumped at the opportunity to explore and learn more. The more we became immersed in what the SNG Program had to offer, and the more we connected with student advocates like Roshaunda Breeden and Brian Newton, the clearer we became on the concept of providing a tool (the book) to help students understand the ‘how’ and not just the ‘what’ in developing a career path and making decisions.” Breeden is coordinator of diversity and student involvement; Newton is director of undergraduate career development.

In writing their book, the authors “applied the marketing principles that have made us successful in business to guide individuals to discover their potential, develop essential branding, recognize their value to a company and learn how to effectively present themselves as the solution to a potential employer’s needs,” they stated, “including formulas that allow the reader to communicate their experiences, skills, and strengths in a way that makes a memorable impression.”

Their book was written for 18- to 24-year-olds who are preparing to make the move from college to career. It is one of a planned series that is designed to follow individuals through significant decision points in career and life.