Students practice networking for their futures

Sometimes, all you need for an opportunity is to know someone. Faculty and staff in ECU’s College of Business know about the importance of networking and have developed a semi-annual program to help students get to know area business leaders and companies.

“I know the students do it for networking and all that, but I like to use it as a recruiting tool,” said Jacob Parrish, vice president of operations for ECU Health. “Every year, I’ve been able to find somebody to hire.”

The Fall 2025 Leadership and Professional Development Networking Event put nearly 300 ECU students in the right place and at the right time to meet around 140 area professionals. It is the culmination of their professional development and ethical leadership class.

“It’s critical. I would say, any [job/internship] opportunity that’s presented to me since my time that I’ve been here, it’s been through knowing somebody … and they’ve ended up reaching out to me after the fact,” said senior finance and economics major Cole Villagomez.

The business professionals had backgrounds ranging from health care to manufacturing and finance. Many of the professionals are ECU alumni and were in the students’ shoes not all that long ago. Greenville ENC Alliance talent engagement manager Julia Davis graduated from ECU with her marketing degree in 2020. She estimates this is her 10th or 11th networking event.

“I enjoy coming and talking to them and letting them know about the many well-paying career opportunities that are available for them here in Greenville, Pitt County,” Davis said. “As we bring in new capital investment and new jobs, it’s really important that we have people in Greenville to fill those positions for our industry partners.”

The class, BUSI 3200, teaches students how to grow their networks with people with different skills and expertise, and both locally and regionally. The networking event is a requirement for the class.

“I think it’s good for people who are like me, who are introverts and won’t come out to these events unless they’re forced to,” said senior business administration student Imari Smith. “It may be uncomfortable at first, but it’s a beneficial opportunity.”

Getting out of one’s comfort zone extends to the type of business they are interested in. Semaj Solomon is a senior management major with a concentration in international business. She is from Charlotte, but after this networking event, eastern North Carolina could become her home after graduation.

“I would love to work with ECU Health. It was awesome talking to them, because it kind of introduced you to business and health,” she said. “[When you] originally think of business, you don’t think of the health care field – you don’t think marketing, you don’t think HR – but that’s all a big part.”

“A lot of the students have no idea that health care is even an option for them. They all want to be in banking and finance and all the things. And then when I tell them that we hire IT and finance, we have our own police department, we hire plumbers, grounds people, their eyes start to get opened up,” Parrish added.

It will now be up to the students to develop the networks they’ve made, as many of them will be graduating in the next six months. The spring version of this networking will take place in early 2026.

“We cannot do this without the generous help of our professional volunteers,” said Dr. Kathryn Carroll, teaching assistant professor and the course coordinator for the leadership and professional development curriculum. “This active engagement with professionals is one way the College of Business Pirate experience stands out among other business schools. We love active and experiential learning!”