School of Management works behind the scenes

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Aug 27, 2004 by Kropf, Annemarie

SYRACUSE - When business students arrive on the Syracuse University campus, one of the first people they meet is Nicholas P. Wegman. As executive director of marketing and career development at the Martin J. Whitman School of Management (SOM), Wegman is responsible for helping students prepare for entry into the business community.

"The professional schools, such as Newhouse or the law school, find that it's very helpful to create an embedded career center to help students get placed after graduation," says Wegman - a distant relative of Daniel Wegman, president of the supermarket giant Wegmans. "We're serving the undergrads and grads and trying to give them life skills and to teach them how to market themselves in a difficult economy. A lot of people think we're a placement service. That couldn't be further from reality. We have way more students than there are jobs."

There are currently 1,200 undergrad students enrolled in SOM in majors such as marketing, accounting, supply chain, and finance. There are approximately 200 grad students.

Wegman says that he has never tried to make the career service center a jobplacement service and says that this is good for employers.

"We can give [students] tools for research. We can give them support and motivation," he notes. "The results are better. They feel ownership of [the jobs], which means they'll do better."

Wegman worked at Eastman Kodak in Rochester for 25 years. He started in sales and left as divisional vice president in the late 1990s.

While working at Kodak, Wegman decided to pursue his M.B.A. at SU's School of Management through the independentstudy program. The experience got him used to traveling to Syracuse and being on campus. He became friendly with the dean of the school, who then called him when the career person was leaving. "One of the advantages with the School of Management is that you get a personal connection with the professors and the school," Wegman notes. I had that in spades."

The dean asked him to make a one and a half-year commitment. That was back in 1999. "I was hooked," Wegman says. "I love the students and their energy."

Face-time with students is very important to Wegman. He says that SOM had a choice between less staff and more programs or more staff and less programs. He went with the latter. "When we can engage with the students, we make a lot of progress," he says.

As part of a course in freshman year, students must create a resume and then bring it with them to a meeting with a career counselor.

"The resume is an excellent way to get students to talk about what they intended, what motivates them. Are they just studying to be an accountant because Mom did?" Wegman is quick to point out that he's not trying to dissuade anyone, but rather just wants each student to think about their major outside of the model with which they grew up.

Students are then registered into the e-recruiting program where recruiters the majority of whom are alumni - can post jobs. "It's really not a list serv, but [rather] a communications construct," Wegman says.

When it comes to the job market, Wegman says there is no better advice for students than to get their foot in the door via internships. In 1999 and 2000, the market was very robust, and people could get jobs easily. Then the dot-com bubble burst. Students with internship experience had considerably more to offer employers than students who did not, Wegman says. "We consider [a good internship or multiple internships] a very healthy, desirable skill ... when looking at the university's student body."

It's now a requirement that students complete at least one internship during their time at SOM, though Wegman points out that two 'is quickly becoming the norm. Most students complete their internships in their hometown and not locally. "The emphasis is get one and make it work in your lifestyle," he notes.

Wegman says that he's had several discussions with panels of employers regarding what skill sets they look for in prospective hires. "Aside from personality and interpersonal skills, the next highest valued [skill] is multiple number of internships," he says. "Nothing beats personality. If they have the personality and the drive and the connections, they'll do well." After completing an internship, the student writes a five- to 10-page paper. stating their teamed objectives.

"A lot of older managers think it's difficult to manage an intern," Wegman points out. "These students have more skills than many employees sitting in their seats. [Take the time to] care for them in the beginning of the internship ... then unleash them."

Community service is another requirement the school has added. Wegman says community service is a great way to demonstrate leadership, time management, and empathy to potential employers. He admits that a small segment of the students are against it when they first hear of the requirement. "By the time they start interviewing for jobs, they get it in a hurry," he adds. Students have volunteered at the Food Bank of Central New York and the Syracuse VA Medical Center, among other places.