Green Bay Press-Gazette, Green Bay WI

Northeast Wisconsin Chapter recently held a speed networking event with Northeast Wisconsin Technical College students in the Administrative Professional and Office Assistant programs. Here is the link to the press coverage:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/news/archive/biz_15759791.shtml

Seven-minute concept speeds networking

NWTC students practice with professionals

April 21, 2004

By Cynthia Hodnett, chodnett@greenbaypressgazette.com

It could have gone as badly as a blind date from hell.

But for a group of Northeast Wisconsin Technical College students, practicing their networking skills with administrative professionals Monday ended up being as sweet as rekindling an old romance.

“I was pretty nervous at first, but eventually I calmed down as I got further into it,” said 19-year-old Melissa Englebert of Green Bay, who is studying to be an administrative assistant. The students networked in rapid-fire fashion with members of the Northeast Wisconsin Chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals.

“They were really personable, and they were really interested in you,” Englebert said. “They were really calm and relaxed, so I just mirrored what they did.”

Englebert and 22 other administrative assistant and office assistant students networked with a different professional every seven minutes.

The activity was modeled after the seven-minute dating concept in which singles meet each other in a certain amount of time, said Amanda Jens, a 20-year-old administrative assistant major from Manitowoc and one of the organizers of the event.

“We thought this concept would be the best way to move around and mingle with people,” Jens said. “It would attract more people to come. They would be more active and want to move around instead of sitting and listening to people talk.”

The event highlighted Administrative Professionals Week, which began Sunday. Students also had the chance to learn about the local 52-member International Association of Administrative Professionals chapter, said Patricia Falkenhagen, an executive assistant at Nsight Telservices and a chapter member.

“They asked what it is that I do, which I think is important if they are going to school and plan to be in this profession one day,” said Penny Warren, an administrative assistant at American Medical Security and a chapter member.

“They need to know that they’ll likely be doing the same things over and over, but there is variety, too,” Warren said. “It’s also important to be prepared when they go out to the interviews, to take advantage of training opportunities after they graduate.”

The students, many of whom are graduating in May or December, agreed that developing good networking skills would be a key in helping them land good jobs.

“A lot of times, there’s focus on what you are doing in school but not a lot of focus on what you need to do after you graduate,” Englebert said. “This will definitely help me once I graduate.”

Wisconsin’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March 2004 is estimated at 5.1 percent, according to preliminary figures from the state Department of Workforce Development.

While that’s somewhat better than a year ago, Wisconsin still has fewer jobs than it did in November 2001, when economists deemed the recession over, according to research by the Center on Wisconsin Strategy.

Jens said she picked up some techniques that would help her during an interview scheduled for today for an administrative assistant position at a Manitowoc insurance company.

“I learned how it’s important to learn as much as you can about a company by going on the Internet or call someone you know that works at the company,” she said. “It’s good to ask questions at the end (of the interview) instead saying, you don’t have any.”

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