Right before Halloween I had the opportunity to go listen to Keith Donovan speak at our downtown campus. He is the VP of Airfoil Group which is a very successful company, so I was obviously very excited to listen to him talk. I personally think that it is always very beneficial to hear an actual professional speak about a subject, instead of just in the classroom. By hearing first hand knowledge, you really get a good feel for how the business world is.

He really pushed taking the next level throughout his speech. That “good” is no longer acceptable, it has to be “great” if you want to be successful in this world. By pushing this concept, he noted how much more in life you will stand out form the crowd and not just fall in the shadows of others. I think this is very true in current day with so many people having a hard time find jobs, you need something under your belt to stand out, and by going above and beyond all the time I think companies will really respect it, and want you in their company.

It was a really humbling experience since he did open himself up after the talk for questions and just casual chat. He made it seem very personal, no matter what the question was. Offering his best career advice possible. I did get the opportunity to hand him one of my business cards and talk about some of the skills I have to offer in the job world. He really strained to me that I never should never be satisfied with what skills I have. There is always more tools of the trade you can learn and equip yourself with to make yourself more desirable.

I certainly enjoyed this experience quite a bit and can say I really learned a lot. It’s really amazing that GV offers so many free speeches and events like this around campus throughout the year.

Hess, L. (Photograph). (2015). Selfie From Taking Flight Networking Speech.