Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 9 No. 4 | March 2017

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12 Inside Hokie Sports
On Feb. 20, more than 100 upperclassmen
student-athletes gathered at Lane Stadium to
get a head start on their futures. They weren’t
tackling opponents on Worsham Field, but
instead sported suits and polished resumes,
as they prepared to connect with professionals
at the seventh annual Student-Athlete Career
Jumpstart. This event, coordinated by the
Office of Student-Athlete Development,
provides opportunities for Hokie student-
athletes to enhance career development
skills, while interacting with alumni and
professionals to make connections, learn
about specific career fields and enhance their
networking skills.
The format of the event has varied over
the years, including an etiquette dinner and a
speed networking session, but the opportunity
for student-athletes to interact with industry
leaders while enhancing their networking skills
remains as the one central element. Athletics
department officials hold the event on the
evening prior to a campus career fair, and
this year’s event took place before the spring
Connection Job Fair sponsored by Career and
Professional Development. Business attire was
required and student-athletes were encouraged
to take advantage of Career Outfitters, a service
which provides new and gently used business
attire to Virginia Tech students planning to
attend career-related events.
The evening started off with insight from
a career expert panel that included Union
Bank & Trust CEO John Asbury, Director of
Marketing for Pamplin College of Business
Donna Wertalik, and former Hokie men’s
basketball standout Bimbo Coles. The panelists
shared their unique perspectives on the
importance of marketing the unique skillset
developed through intercollegiate athletics and
using it to their advantage, as they prepared
to transition into the professional world.
Asbury’s wealth of experience in management
allowed him to disclose the qualities that top
candidates possessed during interviews—skills
like communication, teamwork and time
management that student-athletes master daily.
“Being told that student-athletes have
critical advantages in places that can’t be
taught was such a motivation to use the skills
I possessed but didn’t know how impactful
they would be,” said Gino Rossi, a redshirt
sophomore member of the men’s soccer team.
“Beginning the night with such a high-
caliber panel electrified the evening to a great
kickoff,” Wertalik said. “I was impressed by the
caliber of students and their areas of expertise.”
Following the panel, student-athletes
participated in the Industry Info Session,
where they met in small groups with
professionals from 11 different industries,
including banking, education, sales, real
estate and athletics administration, to gain
first-hand knowledge about the industry.
Student-athletes interested in attending
graduate school could dialogue with James
Anderson, director of distance and graduate
education for the Department of Agricultural,
Leadership, and Community Education. Carol
Robertson, Virginia Tech’s head women’s golf
coach, talked to students about careers in
coaching, and IMG General Manager Brandon
Forbis discussed careers in sports marketing.
Several former Tech student-athletes were
in attendance, including football alums Dr.
AbrahamHardee and Kevin Jones, who headed
groups interested in careers in the medical field
and design, respectively. Hardee, a graduate
of the Edward Via College of Osteopathic
Medicine, currently serves as chief medical
officer of the Community Health Center of
the New River Valley, and Jones is the co-
founder and CEO of JOBA Design, a local
multidisciplinary design firm headquartered in
the Corporate Research Center.
“The Career Jumpstart was the first
opportunity I have had as a young adult
to interact with recruiters in a business
professional setting, and it allowed me to gain
valuable insight into the professional world,”
said MJ Ulrich, a junior and a member of the
Tech women’s swimming and diving team
who is pursuing a degree in human nutrition,
foods and exercise. “Overall, the Career
Jumpstart was a very positive experience and
made me more confident for my transition out
of college.”
The evening concluded with the Connect
VT Networking Reception presented by Union
Bank &Trust. Several members of the executive
management team from Union attended, as
well as representatives from TEKsystems,
MassMutual, Red Ventures, Enterprise Rent-
A-Car, Roush Fenway Racing and PepsiCo.
Executives from Kohl’s and Carilion Clinic also
attended and made financial contributions to
the event. Athletics department photographer
Dave Knachel took professional headshots for
those who wanted one.
The Career Jumpstart is a great way for
student-athletes to “practice before they
compete” and enhance their confidence and
networking skills, as they position themselves
for success beyond graduation.
HOKIE STUDENT-ATHLETES ENHANCE
networking and career development
skills
at annual
by Reyna Gilbert-Lowry