It's that time of year. During the next few months University of Richmond students will be tweaking their resumes, polishing interview skills and trying to increase their understanding of current events in and out of the global marketplace. Thousands of college students apply for jobs; only handfuls receive offers. In a world where every potential quality of an applicant counts, differentiation from the masses becomes essential. How can you make yourself different?
Chances are, the person sitting next to you in that upper-level finance class has a pretty good GPA, a substantive resume and is tapped into the resources that the Career Development Center offers. If you are an underclassman looking for an edge, it may be worthwhile to consider using Richmond's extracurricular resources.
Facing this decision as a freshman, I decided to join a professional organization: Delta Epsilon Chi. For those of you not familiar with the organization, DEX is a co-ed business and leadership fraternity that is uniquely geared toward helping its members learn more about the intricacies of the modern business world and techniques for getting jobs.
Being a part of DEX has helped me to realize how important, but at times underused, professional organizations can be to young students. Structured groups such as DEX can not only teach members job-related skills, but also provide leadership opportunities that can be reflective of real-world scenarios. Learning how to balance budgets, effectively market your organization and manage limited resources allows students to be in positions of responsibility that cannot be simulated in the confines of a classroom.
We are fortunate to have many resources on our small campus that can provide the edge I have just detailed. Business-related examples might include the Finance Society, the Accounting Society or the American Marketing Association. This can even extend beyond business students to the Arts & Sciences via community-service-oriented groups such as Alpha Phi Omega.
The point is not to highlight or plug any one organization, but rather to understand how being a part of a community- or professional-based group can provide more than a resume perk.
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