To get a jump-start on summer employment, 26 MTSU Concrete Industry Management students utilized a speed-networking environment to catch recruiters’ attention.

Nicole Green, the department’s marketing and recruiting coordinator, brought in 18 companies from the industry for the speed-networking event, which was held in late February in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building.

Concrete Industry Management, one of the university’s signature programs, conducts these events to help students meet with potential full-time employers after the internship process and graduation.

MTSU junior Traelyn Colquitt, left, listens as Drew Manett, owner of Des Moines, Iowa-based Manetts Inc., uses a calendar to show him different aspects of the company during the MTSU Concrete Industry Management’s summer internship speed-networking event in the James Union Building’s Tennessee Room. Colquitt is a concrete and construction major from Kingston, Tennessee. (MTSU photos by Randy Weiler)

“It was nerve-wracking, but truly a blessing,” Traelyn Colquitt, a junior concrete and construction major from Kingston, Tennessee, said of the speed-networking event. “To be able to do college and potentially have three internships is something you shouldn’t take for granted.”

Ashley Sirikoun of Murfreesboro, a senior majoring in concrete industry management production, sales and service, called it an “eye-opening and fun experience.”

“Getting to network with various companies is something other majors get a chance to do,” she added. “It gives me a look into the industry and a future career path.”

Less than a week after the event:

• Two companies each had hired one student each and were planning to hire another.
• Eleven companies wanted to conduct additional interviews with students.
• Seven companies — who couldn’t attend the speed-networking event because of a lack of space in the JUB — want to schedule interviews with students.

Six MTSU alumni who work with five of the participating companies also attended the speed-networking event.

To learn more about the CIM program, which is one of 11 departments in the MTSU College of Basic and Applied Sciences, visit www.mtsu.edu/ccm or call 615-494-7658.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)

MTSU senior Ashley Sirikoun, left, learns about Lithko Contracting Inc. from Kelley Forster of Plain City, Ohio, during the recent Concrete Industry Management internship speed-networking interview day. Sirikoun, who is from Murfreesboro, is in concrete’s production, sales and service concentration. (MTSU photo by Randy Weiler)