Industry Connect offers students a head start on their career development

Many new college students know that networking opportunities and business connections don’t come easy. For 100 Fisher students, that changed when they chose to spend part of their autumn break immersed in the heart of Ohio’s business community.

Participating in the college’s inaugural Industry Connect event, these first- and second- year students had the chance to tour leading companies, engage with professionals and gain insights that will help shape their futures.

“Industry Connect was designed for our future business leaders to invest in themselves,” said Interim Dean Aravind Chandrasekaran. “It is about getting out of the classroom and stepping into the environments where business happens.”

Designed in partnership with JobsOhio, this high-impact career exploration experience allowed students the chance to jump into the culture and operations of leading Ohio organizations. The goal: to help them understand real-world career paths, workplace cultures and the skills that set candidates apart.

Student groups each visited two companies across the state, including Procter & Gamble and Western & Southern in Cincinnati, as well as Nationwide and DHL, Abercrombie & Fitch and Hexion and Worthington Enterprises and JPMorganChase in central Ohio.

“Few students across the country get this kind of access this early,” Chandrasekaran told students. “What you see today may spark interests you didn’t know you had or clarify the kind of impact you want to make.”

For Weijia (Anna) Hu, a first-year accounting student, the experience opened her eyes to a wide range of opportunities in the field of accounting.

“I imagined business careers such as accounting or finance roles behind a screen,” said Hu, who visited Nationwide and DHL. “After seeing these companies, I realized there are broader opportunities, such as supply chain analytics, risk planning, technology-enabled business strategy and customer experience design, that also match a business background. It made me think more broadly about roles that combine data, communication and decision-making.”

For first-year student Carter Leichman, who visited P&G and Western & Southern Financial, the day helped him decide on his career path.

“I have known since high school I wanted to pursue a career in business; however, I had struggled to determine which specialization I wanted to study,” Leichman said. “After my visits, I narrowed down my interests and plan to declare my specialization in finance.”

Throughout the day, students witnessed day-to-day operations, discovered pathways for internships and careers, developed communication strategies for professional networking and reflected on personal career interests.

At Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, a multinational consumer goods corporation, students met with Global Business Development manager Michael Guarasci (BSBA ’88, MBA ’94), gained valuable tips on the company’s recruiting process and visited P&G’s Heritage & Archives Center to learn about the company’s history, successes and failures.

“At P&G’s Heritage Center I learned about the importance of branding,” said Leichman. “I also learned that to make progress you need to be willing to take risks and engage in cross-department collaboration. Rather than re-invent the wheel, you should use technology previously discovered for one product and apply it to a new one.”

During his visit to Western & Southern, a financial services company, Leichman and fellow students met with young professionals working for the company. He learned that even young professionals are trying to figure things out as they go, that it’s okay to ask for help from your peers and to embrace learning from obstacles and challenges.

His group also had a chance to hear from Western & Southern President Mark Caner about workplace culture.

“He mentioned they find unique and meaningful ways to recognize and show appreciation for their employees,” Leichman said. “I believe that helps to build a strong workplace culture and makes people feel valued and recognized for their hard work.”

In Columbus, a group of students visited apparel and accessories retailer Abercrombie & Fitch to learn about its leadership development program, and Hexion, creator of performance materials for construction, agriculture, energy, automotive and infrastructure protection, to hear about its efforts to elevate construction standards.

Across town, at Worthington Enterprises, a manufacturer of building and consumer products and sustainable energy solutions, students learned about the intern and operations management program, saw several product demonstrations and had a chance to interact with Fisher alumni. Later in the day, a visit to JPMorganChase, a commercial and investment banking company, provided students with a personal branding session and discussions about leadership, internships and their visions for the future.

Students visiting financial services company Nationwide met with Associate Vice President of Investment Controllership Tara Kanavel and networked with former interns and Ohio State alumni. They finished the day learning about logistics from executives at DHL, a leader in international shipping and transportation, while getting a behind-the-scenes look at its shipping facilities.

“The DHL tour showed how complex international logistics really is,” said Hu. “I saw how efficiency, timing, scanning systems, inventory tracking and coordination between teams make large-scale operations possible. It made me realize how much engineering and data science is embedded in modern logistics.”

She said Industry Connect allowed her to explore and experience learning beyond the classroom.

“I observed how different business units communicate, logistics drives decisions and what ‘professional culture’ looks like inside real corporate environments,” Hu said. “Instead of just hearing about careers, I could actually visualize how people work and grow inside those organizations. I learned employees can shift departments as their skills develop, soft skills such as communication and adaptability are as important as technical knowledge and that real business problems are solved with cross-functional teamwork, not just individual effort.”