Palpable optimism and endless opportunity filled the halls of the College Park Marriott Conference Center as undergraduate and graduate students participated in career events at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Hosted by Smith’s Office of Career Services as a two-day affair, the Smith School’s Undergraduate Career Fair and Graduate Career Expo united students, alumni and industry professionals under one roof where they explored employment opportunities and jump-started careers.

More Smith alumni are giving back to help current students get jobs, thanks to new efforts from the Office of Career Services and the newly launched Office of Experiential Learning.

The path to landing a dream job often involves a great deal of networking and reaching out to companies or potential connections to get a foot in the door. That can be hard for professionals with limited experience. But the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business is looking to change that.

A team of four incoming MBA students took home an $800 prize on Aug. 22, 2019, for winning a live case competition sponsored by investment bank Morgan Stanley.  First-year students in the full-time program at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business were divided into 12 teams during their two-week orientation. The challenge was to figure out how Morgan Stanley could encourage collaboration on a newly formed global team with offices in different time zones. Students were given three days to prepare their recommendations.

There’s nothing like a yacht race on the Chesapeake Bay to learn leadership skills, says Neta Moye, clinical professor of management at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. New MBA students can plan to set sail with Moye next spring to end their first year. But before they hit the water, students will begin their leadership lessons in the classroom in fall 2018.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Incoming MBA students at the Smith School have a big day on Aug. 25, 2017. Working in teams, they will stand in front of a panel of judges from PepsiCo and present ideas for boosting beverage sales at wholesale clubs like Costco and BJ’s. The third annual MBA Orientation Live Case Competition, designed to slingshot students into the full-time MBA program, will require data analysis, teamwork and strategic thinking. But students will also need public speaking and presentation skills.

During the week of July 16, 2017, 12 high school women joined faculty and staff for the Smith Summer Business Program, Women Investing in Learning Leadership (WILL) at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. Presented by the Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets and the Undergraduate Studies Program, WILL provided students with both classroom and experiential learning opportunities to develop and hone their emerging leadership skills.

Full-time MBA students will race yachts, practice wilderness survival and match wits with historical Gettysburg commanders in a new semester-long leadership development program at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “Leadership skills are best learned through practice,” Smith School professor Neta Moye says. “So we designed a personalized, individualized and experiential program that builds on the leadership and teamwork course that I already teach in the core curriculum.”

It's the 17th annual Summer Reading List for Business Leaders – your summer reading guide as recommended by Maryland Smith's faculty experts.