UConn Today – Marketing professor Bill Ryan has been selected as the recipient of the Student Nominated Undergraduate Faculty Career Mentor of the Year for the 2022-2023 academic year. The award is presented to an individual who has exceled as a career mentor.
William Ryan
Alumni Spotlight: Stephanie-Marie Sullivan ’16
Stephanie-Marie Sullivan (UCONN Marketing , Class of 2016, MSBAPM 2023) recently spoke to the Business Connections Learning Community Marketing students about her marketing career journey since leaving UCONN. Stephanie entered the Hartford’s Early Career Marketing Leadership Development Program and completed rotations in brand, digital and customer experience, and found a real passion for consumer behavior and customer experience marketing. She recently moved to Sage Sure, a late-stage FINTECH start-up that focuses on high-risk home insurance, where she is heavily involved in understanding and improving the customer experience.
During her conversation with students she also touched upon important topics such as the value of networking and internships, as well as the highlighting the many different areas of marketing that students can pursue post-graduation. Stephanie answered questions that 1st and 2nd year students had from a marketing professional’s perspective, and gave students the direction and confidence needed to take advantage of the many opportunities that lie ahead at UConn. Her time and dedication to the UConn School of Business Marketing program is greatly appreciated and we are thankful to have such a wonderful alum as part of our Husky family.
Internship Success Story: Taylor Vanfleet
Taylor Vanfleet, a senior Finance major with a minor in Professional Sales Leadership, interned for Virtus Investment Partners over the summer with the internal sales desk. She obtained her sales internship by connecting with a company recruiter at the Sales Competition event in Fall 2015. The Sales Competition event is a class event open to students in MKTG 3452, Professional Selling, and MKTG 3454, Sales Management and Leadership. Continue Reading
Graduate Profile: Andrea Jimenez ’16
Andrea Jimenez: Financial Management
Graduate Took Time to Reflect on Family’s Sacrifices That Provided Her with a Brighter Future
It would be an understatement to say that earning her college degree was profoundly important to Andrea Jimenez ’16.
“Graduation is such a special moment and it has made me reflect on where I came from and what previous generations did to allow me to be here,” said Jimenez, a native of Mexico, who has earned a bachelor’s degree in financial management.
Jimenez has lived in Connecticut since she was 2. But several years ago, Continue Reading
UConn Has Reception for Grads in Waterbury
Degrees Completed at Brass City Branch
Rep-Am.com – Professor William Ryan, left, with UConn’s School of Business, hands a certificate to graduate Richard Coore. The student was recognized for three majors: Business Administration, Human Development & Family Studies, and Psychology. UConn Waterbury held it’s senior reception Friday night at the downtown campus.
Marketing Alumni Event
Marketing Alumni Event Makes an Impact on Students
On March 25, UConn marketing faculty, alumni, students, and professionals gathered in the Benton Art Museum for the annual Marketing Student and Alumni Networking Event to exchange ideas, experiences, and advice. Surrounded by a Husky Basketball exhibit, “In the Paint: Basketball in Contemporary Art,” delicious food, and good company, all attendees enjoyed conversation about careers, school, and the terrible spring weather. This event strengthens relationships between all involved, and provides students the opportunity to build relationships at UConn and beyond.
Keynote speaker Stewart Lander, class of 1980, challenged the group with the line: “If you skipped class, took off work, or stayed out instead of going home, would you be missed?” In essence, what sets you apart from others? Stewart stressed the importance of finding your passion, building quality and lasting relationships, pursuing lifelong learning, and providing service to those around you.
Lander, who earned his master’s degree from UConn, has more than 30 years of experience in selling and leading large sales teams in the financial services industry. Named the 2013-2014 Outstanding Alumnus by the Marketing Department, his involvement in the school and community reflects the foundation of his speech. His words resonated with both professionals and faculty, who have experienced the truth of his words, and with the students, who look to follow the framework as they enter new careers.
About the event, Lander noted that, “the networking events give me a chance to interact with students and hear their enthusiasm regarding their vision for their futures. Alumni have much to offer these students, and want to assist students, just as they were helped when they were students.”
Senior marketing student Paige Gregory agrees: “Networking is incredibly valuable, but it can also be somewhat stressful. Networking with UConn alum, however, takes off some of the additional pressure. These are people who have, quite literally, walked in our shoes and are eager to help in whatever way they can.”
2014 Business Graduates Quickly Landing Competitive Jobs, Noteworthy Salaries
The vast majority of the Class of 2014 from the School of Business, both undergraduate and MBA, were quickly employed following graduation, with many commanding impressive salaries.
UConn career services experts credited this success to well-prepared students who are ready to roll-up their sleeves, who have had meaningful internships, and a powerful and committed alumni team who are networking, coaching and hiring new grads.
Dean John Elliott has emphasized the power of this package. “Increasingly our courses and degree programs are designed and changed based on advice from committed alumni and other corporate friends, who help ensure that our students have the best education we can provide. Moreover, they step forward to mentor students and help open doors to them as job candidates. Of course the ultimate job offer is something the student earns and that is as it should be.”
MBA Graduates Averaging $101,000 Salaries
Graduates of the Full-time MBA program had great employment success, with 76 percent having jobs at graduation, and 94 percent having a job within three months of graduation. The mean salary was $101,562. The average student commanded a starting salary that was almost 12 percent higher than 2013 graduates. The highest salary reported among new graduates was $160,000.
New graduates from the MBA program also reported significantly larger sign-on bonuses as compared to their counterparts from 2013.The mean sign-on bonus for 2014 was $19,500, up 63 percent from 2013.
U.S. citizens reported higher salaries than foreign nationals, earning an average of $102,500 a year to the foreign students’ $95,000. However, the foreign students saw a 25 percent increase in their average base salaries compared with their counterparts from the previous year, indicating that the pay gap is closing. “We are recruiting stronger international students with great communication skills, and employers are recognizing their talent and hiring them,” said Meg Warren, assistant director of the MBA Career Development Office. All the foreign nationals accepting a job, did so in the United States.
“What we think is really impressive is that the jobs MBA candidates are accepting are diversified,” Warren noted. “Our students are getting great regional jobs, but also accepting challenging jobs across the country. Our students are fighting for competitive jobs, and getting them. We are a small program, but we’ve kept our admission standards at a high level, which, in turn, impacts successful job placement.”
Top companies like GE, T-Mobile, Paypal/eBay, Pitney Bowes, Philips, Prudential and The Hartford are regularly recruiting from the School of Business’ MBA program, she said.
“I don’t know what we’d do without our alumni,” Warren said. “They give generously of their time and willingly converse with our students. This has strengthened students’ preparedness and therefore affects the bottom line: securing a meaningful internship or job.”
Undergraduates Boast 77 Percent Employment
Undergraduate students also fared well in employment. Three months after graduation, 77 percent of those seeking employment had secured jobs. The average salary for student full-time hires was $55,683, but UConn business school graduates received offers up to $75,000 in management information systems and $70,000 in finance.
“The School of Business’ reputation has grown each year,” said Lorraine Liswell, program manager for the Undergraduate Career Development Office. Many more employers are coming in, hoping to interview students on campus, she said.
“Companies find UConn students competitive and willing to roll up their sleeves and go to work,” she added.
Many recent graduates are staying in Connecticut, or nearby in New York or Massachusetts, she said. She’s noticed that new alumni are gravitating to “rotational programs” in large companies that allow them to experience four or six different roles before selecting the one that best suits them.
Kathy Hendrickson, assistant director of the Undergraduate Career Development Office, said she’s noticed a change in undergraduate students, who arrive on campus with long-term plans.
“Freshmen are walking in our door and asking about the job-search process within the first few weeks of arriving on campus,” she said. “They’re asking what they need to do to land an internship as a freshman. This type of energy and preparation at the beginning of their college career makes them stronger candidates for landing competitive jobs.”
Likewise, the corporate community is also focused earlier in the process, and many firms are beginning the process of talent identification and relationship building in the freshman or sophomore year, earlier than ever before, Elliott noted.
More than ever, UConn faculty and alumni are invested in helping undergraduate students find good jobs right out of school, she said. For example, marketing professor Bill Ryan invited representatives from Whirlpool in Michigan to meet students, and this relationship helped create new internships and led to some students obtaining full-time positions.
“We also have a strong alumni base that consistently pushes the needle at their organizations to hire more UConn alumni,” Hendrickson said. “Dan Toscano ’87 at Morgan Stanley, and Tom Marshella ’79 at Moody’s, and Shapleigh Smith at Citi are examples of alumni who take a personal interest in the success of our students. It is a team effort that helps the School of Business students to compete and succeed in the job market.”
Students Compete at National Collegiate Sales Competition
On March 2nd-5th students Michael Ferrone, John Sulzicki, Chris Czarnowski, and Lauren Basist and Faculty Advisor Bill Ryan represented UConn at the annual National Collegiate Sales Competition held at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, Georgia. The NCSC is comprised of 65 colleges and universities from across the country. Over 20 companies sponsor the competition, each hoping to attract students interested in working for them upon graduation. The competition consists of multiple rounds of one-on-one selling with a “buyer,” and judging based on successful execution of a professional sales process that includes building rapport, effective needs identification, presenting targeted solutions, overcoming objections and effectively “closing the sale.” These techniques are taught in the Professional Selling and Sales Management & Leadership classes offered by the UConn Marketing Department as part of the Program for Sales Leadership.
Pictured from left to right are; Michael Ferrone, John Sulzicki, Bill Ryan-Faculty Advisor, Chris Czarnowski, and Lauren Basist.