Going to a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) allows for opportunities that other schools may not administer. On October 28th – 31st, the HBCU Career Development Marketplace (HBCU CDM) held their annual conference in Baltimore, Maryland.
Founded in 2001, this is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to inform and educate students from HBCUs about Corporate America as they transition into the workforce.
With over 25 HBCUs present at the conference, students, to be eligible to attend, had to be a Junior or Senior in college, have at least a 3.2 grade point average and had to submit their resume. Felecia Pittman, Head of Career Services at Alcorn State University (ASU), chose the students that would be going on the trip. Those students were Jael Scott, Jordan Hart, Kareem Bowe, Trinity Jones, Chivalian Thomas, Stephen Ware, Jessica Ransom, Shakeria Anderson, Teona Bowles, Aerial Robinson, Jada Gilmore, Za’Naesia Magee and Jabrieka Thornton.
For the first 3 days, the conference consisted of students listening to various speakers and going to different workshops to fully enhance their understanding of Corporate America and what it means to build their own brand. Junior, Jada Gilmore shared that, “Despite being an Agriculture Science major, I learned how to brand myself and network which will help me on the path I am pursuing. It was truly a great experience.”
Every school also had a chance to compete in the Oral Speech competition where they were given 3 minutes to speak on a topic that the judges chose. On Thursday, October 31st, students had the chance to participate in the Career Fair where numerous companies came out and students had the opportunity to network and ask about internships as well as jobs. Shortly after the Career Fair, students returned to the main room for closing remarks and to hear the winner of the Oral contest, in which Alcorn received 2nd place.
Senior, Jessica Ransom also stated that, “Being able to listen and learn from others who now sit in positions that I aspire to fill one day truly motivated me to aim higher and dream bigger.”