With December winding down and the new year quickly approaching, adults typically look forward to a family-filled holiday season, but for college students, their immediate thoughts tend to be rest, relaxation, and maybe a little networking? For many college-age kids whose parents are a part of the WashingtonExec community, this is exactly what they were up to over winter break.
WashingtonExec’s “NextGen Beltway Leaders” group kicked off at the Altamira Corporation Headquarters in McLean, Virginia in December 2014 and proved to be a smashing success. With over 25 undergraduate college students in attendance, multiple speakers shared internship experiences, career tips, and general information about the vast employment opportunities in the GovCon industry.
Kourtney Whitehead, Vice President of Product and Client Solutions for accelHRate, and Kartik Verma, Consultant at Deloitte, shared insights with the young adults to help guide them in their professional development. Parent of a college student himself, Ted Davies, President and CEO of Altamira Corporation, hosted and served as moderator for the unique event.
“I was very impressed with the college kids that attended the WashingtonExec event at Altamira during the holidays,” said Davies. “They were actively engaged with the presenters and clearly got the message about the importance of building your personal network as most stuck around and “networked” with each other well after the event ended.”
The college students left with multiple pieces of advice on potential internship opportunities and how to search for programs not typically listed at college career centers. The top 20 pieces of advice from the “What I Learned” except of Get off the Bench: Unleashing the Power of Strategic Networking Through Relationships, by Sid Fuchs served as a taking off point for describing how to build a network of peers as well as trusted professional relationships.
The group plans to meet again in May 2015, once finals are finished.
