Club shares the business of doing business

With unemployment rates continually changing and the standards for hiring increasing, a local club affiliated with Southeastern Illinois College is helping its members and students be better prepared for the job market.

Kelsie Bond, business instructor for SIC, heads a chapter of a club called Phi Beta Lambda. The Club is an organization that prepares its members for careers in business and business related fields. This is Bond's second year instructing at SIC but it is the first semester that she has headed the club. The chapter has been in place in past years but got abandoned a few years ago and Bond has brought it back to life.

"It allows students to get that real world appeal," Bond said. "Students want to graduate and get jobs, they need to learn business skills."

Bond invites other colleges, universities and local businesses to come and share with the students about skills they need to succeed.

Wednesday, Kim Barr, human resources vice, and Jessi Long, education coordinator for Legence Bank, shared with the students proper resume, interview and first impression tactics. The students learned what Barr and Long were looking for in potential new hires for the bank.

"We are very passionate about what we do," Barr said. "A lot of schools are removing business related programs so we fill a need."

Legence Bank was happy to share their knowledge on interviewing and hiring, as well as what they are looking for on submitted resumes. Not only are they involved with the college group but they help out on the high school level, too, offering internships, mock interviewing and speaking with the students about real world business tactics that are essential after graduation.

Bond hosts the seminar with the businesses or universities about once a month during the fall semester of class. During the spring semester, the students prepare for the competitive side of the club, Bond said.

The students will engage in a competition to test their business skills. The event is held in April and tests the students' interviewing prowess, accounting skills, speech delivery and much more. There will be both individual and team events.