The McGaughy Internship & Professional Development Center offers CBE students the chance to network with Virginia business leaders through events like Career Café, an Accounting Fair, CBE Talks, and employer Meet & Greets. Other opportunities include golf etiquette clinics, field trips to companies like Riverside Logistics, The Port of Virginia, and Amazon, as well as professional development resources like Career Closet, Bow Ties & Bites, and a Free LinkedIn Photo Booth.
The McGaughy Center organizes Mock Interviews and an Executive Presence Dinner each semester for MANG 391 Professional Skills Development students, helping them develop essential professional skills. Students design resumes, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles, which equip them with the necessary tools to successfully search for and obtain their internship and full-time positions. Additionally, the center offers guidance throughout the internship process, managing relationships between CBE students, internship employers, and supervising faculty.
CBE Talks occur three times per semester, featuring industry experts invited by the McGaughy Center to impart invaluable insight and experience to students. It's an exceptional opportunity to gain wisdom and motivation from authentic business leaders. Chris Isaacs, founder and CTO at Plus3IT Systems, served as the guest speaker for March’s CBE Talks. Isaacs contributes to the firm’s mission-focused secure cloud solutions by offering thoughtful leadership. This involves encouraging innovative thinking, cultivating new technology partnerships, and codifying advanced methodologies for automated processes. With over 20 years of experience, Isaacs has worked extensively with the Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC), specializing in the development and implementation of enterprise-level cloud adoption strategies.
Isaacs graduated from Longwood University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Information Systems, was a member of the men’s basketball team, and currently serves as an active member of the CBE Advisory Board, whose members serve as consultants for program and process improvement, keeping the College updated on new business trends and practices to integrate into the curriculum and strategic planning.
Isaacs highlighted the importance of building relationships, effective communication, and resilience when navigating challenges in both academic and professional settings. He advised students, “Relationship management is one of the number one key business attributes that will sustain you through your entire career.” Isaacs compared the dynamics of the business world to his experience as an athlete, “Not burning bridges is very important. Act professional even when you lose, walking away with integrity and making sure you understand how to win and how to lose.”
Isaacs went on to encourage, “You don’t always achieve every goal you set, that doesn’t stop you from setting goals.” He stressed the value of integrity, adaptability, and continuous learning in order to achieve long-term success and personal growth. “Failure shouldn’t be viewed as something you should be scared of; you’re supposed to fail your first couple of jobs. If you don’t, you’re not working hard enough or taking a big enough risk.”
He reminded students internships provide valuable experience for skill development and career exploration, “After your freshman year, you should be thinking internship every summer. Internships are not meant to be single steps toward a career; they could be a single step toward the wrong career, but hopefully, if you select the right company, you can discover what career paths do interest you. It is the only way you’re going to see what real life looks like.”
Isaacs provided students with several critical insights to consider as they transition into the workforce, “Degrees are a starting point, but some of the key differentials that we look for in entry level positions is how you’ve demonstrated self-learning: finding a career path, determining what some of the qualifications and certification or skillsets that are necessary for entry, and showing an employer that you are willing to put the effort in to work hard, learn a skill, and then using that skill to provide value to that business.”
He wrapped up the talk with several key thoughts: have tough skin; don’t apply to one job, but to apply to 10 – you don’t have to take every job; make sure you give yourself options – more is better; learning how to interview is a positive skill – you can only get better at it with experience; you’re not going to have all the skills for every job, so before you apply or have your interview, make sure you do your homework on the company; make sure you know who their clients are, what kind of business they are, and their core values. He recommended students ask themselves, “What value are you going to bring, how hard are you going to work, and what are you willing to do to differentiate yourself from the candidate next to you?”
The McGaughy Center is hosting one more CBE Talks this semester:
- Tuesday, April 16: Tom DeWitt, SNVC
More information about the McGaughy Internship & Professional Development Center can be found here: https://www.longwood.edu/business/internships/. To attend upcoming CBE Talks or to inquire about becoming a guest speaker, please contact the McGaughy Center at internshipscbe@longwood.edu.
Stay in the loop and catch all upcoming events by following the College of Business and Economics on Instagram at @longwoodcbe.
