I’m currently in the middle of a two-day swing through NoVa and New York City.

Last night the W&M DC Office collaborated with the Mason School’s Office of Corporate & Alumni relations to sponsor a networking reception at the Tower Club in Tysons Corner, Va. A good crowd was on hand to hear Assistant Dean Bill Geary speak on the Undergraduate Business Program’s ascent into the upper echelon of BBA programs nationwide and, of course, to network.

Earlier in the day I joined Bill and Corporate Relations Director Tom Rideout at lunch with Brenda Hargett ’82 BBA, VP and CFO of the American Petroleum Institute. Brenda has just accepted Tom and Bill’s invitation to join the BBA Business Partners Board this coming July.

Among other topics, I raised the possibility of developing an oil industry forum for students on campus, and Brenda expressed an interest in helping to further explore how this event might take shape. It could potentially be a great opportunity for students to become better acquainted with one of the most profitable industries in the current marketplace.

Tom and I also had an engaging discussion with Dana Waring ’92 MBA, Managing Director of the consulting firm Resources Global Professionals and our host for the Tower Club reception.

While discussing ways that our students can break through the seemingly tough barriers set up by employers this year for so many graduates, Dana’s advice was straightforward:

Graduates and intern candidates alike should to develop a menu of value propositions to present to employer representatives to consider. Instead of trying to force as fit into a more traditional job within an organization, do enough research on employers of interest to identify where you can add immediate value through project work.

Food for thought. I’ll check in again with additional observations following our New York Alumni reception tonight.