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On April 22, 145 University of Wisconsin Oshkosh students, faculty, alumni, speakers and corporate guests took part in the inaugural Global Careers Day on campus. The event, sponsored and organized by the International Business Club, gave students the opportunity to learn about global careers through panel presentations and hands-on workshops throughout the day.

The three morning sessions each featured different presenters and topics. Once the presentations for each session were complete, the floor was opened up for questions and discussion. Students heard from eight global executives about why it is important to consider a global career, what corporations look for in global managers and gained several pieces of advice for having a successful global career. Speakers included: Todd Kelsey (MBA ’04), executive vice president of Global Customer Services at Plexus Corp.; Thomaz Gruber, president at Curwood, Inc.; and John Malinowski, vice president of Human Resources at Kimberly-Clark Corp.

Professor B. S. Sridhar, faculty advisor for the International Business Club, said he wants students to understand how important being a globally smart businessperson is because the competition for graduating students is changing.

After an hour for lunch and networking, students returned to hands-on workshops that focused on conducting a global job search, international internships and study abroad opportunities at UW Oshkosh.

Presenter Salim Hawi, senior director of International Shared Services at Oshkosh Corp., enjoyed the opportunity to speak at the event and interact with students. “I thought the students were extremely interested and very focused. What impressed me most is that they know what they want.”

To commemorate the first Global Careers Day, two $500 scholarships were awarded to Mackenzie Kloehn, supply chain and operations management and Spanish, and Bryant Nankee, marketing and global business. A committee of faculty members, Aliosha Alexandrov, Marianne Johnson and Andrew Miller, in addition to Professor Sridhar, reviewed the applications. The scholarships were instituted to aid in the cost of international study tours or study abroad programs focusing on business or a foreign language.

The idea for the event has been in the works for several months. International Business Club president Sara Martin said, “There are multiple events that bring together professionals; however, they are not typically student sponsored. We wanted to contribute to every part of the planning process to create an event students would like since it was put together by students.”

The International Business Club has been planning this event since last October. There were five teams that each had a specific focus, including areas of public relations, venue, programming, funding and registration. Caitlin Nankee, chief organizer, Tanvi Kothari, and Sridhar coordinated the efforts.

With the success of this inaugural event, Sridhar would like to expand the scope in the next few years. “We hope to draw students and business presenters from all over Wisconsin in the future.”

There was no cost for the students to register or participate thanks to several sponsors and supporters, including Pepsi Fund, Oshkosh Corp., Bemis Company, Inc., Curwood North America, Inc., UW Oshkosh College of Business, UW Oshkosh chapter of Society for Human Resource Management, and Fox Valley and UW Oshkosh chapters of APICS.

Special Note:

Global Careers Day speakers:

  • Todd Kelsey (MBA ’04), executive vice president of Global Customer Services at Plexus Corp.
  • Dnyanesh Patkar, vice president of Corporate Development at Schneider National, Inc.
  • John Malinowski, vice president of Human Resources at Kimberly-Clark Corp.
  • Tim Fliss (MBA ’99), vice president of Human Resources at Bemis Company, Inc.
  • Joe Mauthe, senior vice president of Global Human Resources at Plexus Corp.
  • Thomaz Gruber, president at Curwood, Inc.
  • Terry Moeller, director of Marketing at Schreiber International, Inc.
  • Salim Hawi, senior director of International Shared Services at Oshkosh Corp.

Global Career Day facilitators:

  • Tom Lyga, manager of College Relations at Oshkosh Corp.
  • Jodi Carlson, Career Services at UW Oshkosh
  • Jackie Murray, internship adviser of College of Business at UW Oshkosh
  • Jenna Graff, director of the Office of International Education at UW Oshkosh

Story written by Katelyn Zima

Amy Pinkston, College of Business, submitted this announcement. Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to contribute calendar items, campus announcements and other good news to UW Oshkosh Today.