Marshall University’s Lewis College of Business kicked off its second annual Professional Month. Tuesday

Director in stakeholder engagement at the college of business Glen Midkiff said the event went very well and said everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

“It was a good opportunity for student and faculty engagement,” Midkiff said.

College of business professor Nancy Lankton said professors wanted their students to attend this event so they could know about the other events this month.

The purpose of Professional Month is to provide seminars and workshops for students to become more well-rounded and earn a certificate in professionalism.

“In fact, one of the events has to be either the etiquette dinner, the career fair or the mocktails in order to get their professional certificate,” Lankton said. “They get the certificate if they go to five of the events.”

Last year, Professional Month was just for college of business students. This year, the event is open to all Marshall students.

In the business world today, employers are looking for more than technical skills. Professional Month provides students the opportunity to work on their soft skills, such as how to dress, how to network and how to work with their community. These skills are not typically taught in a classroom environment.

“That’s what employers are looking for; they are looking for the soft skills and we want to prepare our students for the workforce and be ready for that first job when they are finished,” Midkiff said.

Professional Month has about fifteen events set up. Wednesday is the Etiquette Dinner from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Memorial Student Center Shawkey room and from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in MSC room BE5. There will be a program about applying to graduate schools Thursday from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Cheyenne DeBolt can be contacted at [email protected].