Inampudi 1

Divya Inampudi

Mr. Speice

Independent Study & Mentorship I

4 October 2019

The Day with Professionals

The night before Business Symposium I was very concerned with how I wanted to

present myself. I wanted the professionals to acknowledge that I was a good candidate to engage

in a conversation with. That’s why I made sure my suit and blouse had no wrinkles and my heels

were nice and clean.

Arriving there I was in a frenzy with all the suits the heels clacking and people in a hurry.

As we got in the break room I was shocked at the amount of people that were there. But more

than shocked I felt reassured that we were all in this ride together and everyone here is set out to

learn and achieve something. Talking to these new students made me realize that everyone has

their own passion and topic that they have an interest in. This may not be similar to my interests

but they all arrived to this topic by having certain experiences that lead up to it.

Networking with other students improved my communication skills because I was able to

make new friends and connect with other individuals that are in the same boat as me. They

helped me learn new information and their personal experiences when they were looking for

interviews and mentors. I was able to utilize this information effectively and try to implement it

into my own interview and cold call process. For example, one girl told me business

professionals tend to be more susceptible to calls and meetings in the morning because it’s the

start of the day and they have a fresh and clear mind.
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In addition to networking with students, another big thing I learned from ISM is talking

to professionals. Starting from the handshake to ending with the closing is very crucial when

speaking to professionals. I learned a few important things such as having a firm handshake and

speaking with confidence and always having a smile. Although when meeting professionals I

was very nervous, apparently they have no idea and couldn’t tell because I balanced out all the

nervousness with my smile and confidence. Through my experience at Business Symposium I

learned that although it is ok for everyone to be nervous when meeting strangers or people of

high authority, it is always important for them to ignore this feeling and try to portray their best

character in the given situation.

Having a mock interview happen between a professional and me, allowed me to open my

eyes to the flaws that I have been previously doing. It gave me more insight into how recruiters

would look at resumes and when they would feel like reading it or skimming past it. The

professional that discussed with me told me that he liked the graphic and color on my remue

because it’s not too much and very minimalistic. This gave me reassurance because I felt as

though my resume was a little too childish and had too much going on with it but now hearing

feedback from another age group made me feel confident.

Throughout this interview process, I also discovered that keeping the conversation going

and not blurting out the wrong thing is very important in a professional setting. This is very

crucial when they ask you for your weaknesses. In my setting I proposed that one of my

weaknesses was that it was a perfectionist and I had to do any job I was given with precision. But

somehow when I was describing myself in such a way I talked about myself being too

controlling and it went downhill from there. That is why I learned that practicing such an
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interview question before the interview is important so I won’t have to mess up and become less

qualified because of one factor.

Overall, Business Symposium was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot of new

things about the professional world that I previously had no knowledge about. I am so excited to

return next year and do it all over again!