experience – Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society Blog

March 3, 2023

Students Learn Business Etiquette Over Dinner

Julia Posillico ’25 shares her first-hand experience during the Business Etiquette Dinner on March 1, 2023.

Last night the Holy Cross Sales Club organized a business etiquette dinner run by a managing director and two recruiters from Northwestern Mutual. Nearly thirty students were in attendance and were served a three-course meal while getting advice on networking, interviewing, and etiquette at business meals. So what were the main takeaways from the event?

When it comes to networking, do your research before you attend an event and know who is going. When you get there make sure you are conscious of who you are talking to with your limited time, and focus on quality over quantity. Making connections with people who already have a lot of connections can be helpful since they can then make additional introductions for you. Also, have easy conversation starters and ways to end one, too. For instance, start with comments on a neutral topic such as why you attending the event, and to end a conversation you could introduce them to someone else. Make sure you have a short but informative elevator pitch and listen more than you speak. If you have a name tag, be suer to put it on your right side so that when you shake hands with someone it is visible.

Continue reading “Students Learn Business Etiquette Over Dinner”

February 23, 2023

Entrepreneurship Club Visits Local Startup

Experience shared by Alexander Christie ’24, Administrative Director of HC Launch.

This week I was one of fourteen Holy Cross students accompanied by the Ciocca Center director and entrepreneur-in-residence, Rob Murner, to get off campus to visit a local stuartup on February 21. HC Launch, the entrepreneurship club within the Ciocca Center, organized a site visit to Geisel Software, a software development company focused on robotics and artificial intelligence located in Worcester. We were able to hear from a number of different people within this growing company including the office manager, a few engineers, and the founder/CEO, Brian Giesel. Feedback from students was that this site visit was an extraordinarily positive experience.

Giesel has something for everyone. There were a number of computer science majors in attendance who certainly benefited from hearing about the career experiences of the engineers. Those of us who weren’t specifically interested in software learned a lot about the intricacies of this field, which will only become more important to understand as technology continues to emulate life. Brian also talked about the founding and growth of the company, as well as the challenges that led the company to where it is today.

There are two primary takeaways from this experience for me and according to Brian, these are two of the key ingredients to his company’s success. Continue reading “Entrepreneurship Club Visits Local Startup”

September 10, 2022

Colman Benson ’24: Ciocca Center Intern

My name is Colman Benson ‘24 and I am a junior at Holy Cross majoring in political science with a Certificate in Finance and Banking. Through the Academic Internship Program I am taking the class Policy and Politics: The Midterm Elections, taught by Tim Bishop and Peter Flaherty while I am working for the Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society to fulfill my internship requirement for the Certificate. Throughout the semester I will be interviewing faculty and alumni to highlight their different career paths in the business world. I will also demonstrate how their liberal arts education and the values of Holy Cross have guided them through their respective business careers.

Towards Certificate completion, I have completed several workshops including Fullbridge, Interview Prep, Banking Ethics and Corporate Finance and Banking in addition to the Excel Tutorial. I have been able to gain fundamental knowledge and useful business skills through my participation in the Ciocca Center workshops. During the Fullbridge Professional Edge Program I worked on a team to study the data and finance metrics of our company along with its competitors to develop a growth strategy throughout a fast-paced simulated work week. We pitched our final project to a panel of mock investors to show how our new product could penetrate the market and provide growth for our company. This workshop was very beneficial as it gave me the opportunity to solve a problem with my teammates and pitch our solution, including how and why our new product would increase our company’s revenue. The Corporate Finance and Banking Workshop has given me an insight into some of the top firms in the industry including Natixis and Wellington, asset management firms. I have been able to grow my connections and foster relationships with Holy Cross alumni that I have met at these firms through the workshop.

I am very excited to continue expanding my alumni network and to learn more about their experiences in the business world. I believe this will give me a great opportunity to enter the field of finance in the future.

Check out the following faculty and alumni interviews:

Ciocca Center Announces New Director in the College Street Journal

October 29, 2021

Business Certificate Presentation Tips and Tricks

Mackenzie Madden ’22 pursuing the Business Fundamentals Certificate through the Ciocca Center for Business, ethics, and Society at the College, shares how her workshop experience has provided her with countless opportunities to practice presenting in front of an audience. Read on to learn her tricks to a successful presentation!

From the Fullbridge Program to Marketing Communications & Sales to the Global Supply Chain workshop, I’ve had different audiences and presentation goals, worked with different teams, and created a variety of different presentations, all while keeping the same tips in mind. Continue reading “Business Certificate Presentation Tips and Tricks”

July 27, 2020

Holy Cross Student Summer: Ramses Taveras ’22

The Business Certificate Programs through the Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society at Holy Cross provide students with technical skills and experience. Building a resume that speaks to your career interest, no matter your major, gives you relevant talking points in an interview.

“I believe that Holy Cross has given me the skills to adapt to this new environment and be able to learn quickly and effectively. Not only that, but the College instills a strong work ethic among students, which is something I am definitely grateful for. I believe that Holy Cross has really given me a foundation in how to think and learn, even in what at first might be an uncomfortable, unknown environment.” – Ramses Taversas ’22

Women in Business Volunteers at National Organization

Earlier this month, members of the Women in Business student committee spent a morning at Dress for Success Worcester. Dress for Success is a non-profit national organization dedicated to promoting female financial independence and career achievement by providing free professional clothing to wear in the workplace and to job interviews. In addition to providing clothing, the organization also assists women with resume building and interview preparation to increase their chances of being hired.

WIB committee members volunteered at the Worcester branch where they organized, steamed, and polished clothing and shoe donations. We were also able to learn more about what the organization does for the women it supports and opportunities to further get involved. We learned various helpful career and resume tips from Dress for Success staff members. For example, Justina Lachapelle and Beth Butler, executive director and program director respectively, explained the difference between branding and marketing and how understanding the distinction between the two can be important when developing your own personal brand for purposes such as job interviews.

Spending the morning with Dress for Success was a great way to bring in the new committee members and to better get to know one another outside of our weekly meetings. It was a great opportunity to give back to an organization that does so much to support female empowerment in the professional world.

As a committee, we are currently working to plan the 15th annual Holy Cross Women in Business Conference which will take place on campus Saturday, November 7th, 2020. We have confirmed our morning keynote alumna speaker (stay tuned for an announcement!) and are planning plenty of new programming and surprises! I hope you will celebrate 15 years with us!

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Thanks to Grace Ingram ’20, WIB Committee Co-Chair, for sharing her experience. We look forward to the 15th annual conference this fall!