Successful recent Stetson University alumni shared their real-world expertise with students during the fifth annual "Real World Panel" discussion sponsored by Quintessential Careers and Stetson University's School of Business Administration, held Wed., Dec. 3, 2003, in the Lynn Business Center's Rinker Auditorium. The event was again dedicated to the memory of 1999 Stetson business graduate David Bigman of DeLand, who died in June 2001.

Eight Stetson graduates of the past six years discussed job hunting and life after graduation. A networking reception included additional alumni. More than 100 people attended the panel and networking event.

Real World 2003 participants include (l-r): Margaret Godwin, Amy Barton, Erin Davis, Daniel Davis, Maureen Rhoads, and Kristy Thomson.

Panel members included Amy M. Barton, 2001 graduate in general business who is a personal-lines insurance agent at the Barton Insurance Agency; Daniel Davis, a 1998 graduate of The Roland George Investments Program and currently a financial advisor with Raymond James & Associates in downtown Orlando and his wife Erin Davis, 1997 psychology grad and 2000 master's grad in marriage and family therapy, a therapist for the Devereux Foster Care program in DeLand, FL.

Also on the panel were Margaret Godwin, a 2000 graduate in business management who is a business analyst at Hewitt Associates LLC; Maureen (Modarres) Rhoads, a 1999 graduate in human resources management and employee relations specialist at Brown and Brown, Inc.; and Kristy Thomson, a 1999 graduate in general business and a consultant at Accenture.

Alumni contributing from the audience and helping the panel to answer questions were J.P. Politano, a 2001 management grad employed by World Gym outside Tampa, and Lauren Schultz, a 2000 graduate in accounting and 2001 graduate with a master's in accounting who is an accountant (CPA) at the corporate office of Nextran Truck Center, Jacksonville.

A networking event followed immediately after the panel discussion.

Stetson Marketing Professor Randall Hansen and his wife, Katharine, who has also taught at Stetson, founded Quintessential Careers seven years ago, and have marked its anniversary with several special events, beginning with the gift of their popular 1997 book, Write Your Way to a Higher GPA, to all of Stetson's first-year business students. They also gave a purchase award during Stetson's recent Juried Student Art Exhibition to Sean Erwin for his painting, "Holding On," which will be displayed in the Lynn Business Center. (Read more.)

The Real World Panel was the last event of the anniversary celebration.

A comprehensive career-development site, Quintessential Careers gives information about writing resumes and cover letters, on-line job hunting, mastering job interviews and negotiating salaries. (Read more about the site.) Quintessential Careers also publishes the QuintZine newsletter, a bi-weekly career e-zine.

Dr. Hansen serves as Webmaster and Katharine Hansen as creative director.

The Real World Panel and Networking Event is an annual event held in the fall at Stetson University, DeLand, FL, that unites recent college graduates with college juniors and seniors, where the grads share experiences and lessons they wish they had learned prior to graduating. The panel and networking event are sponsored by Quintessential Careers and Stetson University's School of Business Administration. Find out more about this event!

Photo credits: John R. Hansen