Jordan Cornell
Lantern Staff
Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) is an international business leadership organization that is available for Butler students to participate in. The purpose of PBL is to bring business and education together and the chance to compete in various business-related events at the state and national level. The trip was for the PBL Career Connections conference and was paid for by Butler and the PBL members.
“We had a networking session the first night,” Professor of Accounting Janice Akao said. “Then, on Friday, we had business tours, and on Saturday, there were workshops.”
The students had the opportunity to have their resume reviewed as well as having a professional headshot taken for their LinkedIn profile.
Five PBL students and one adviser traveled to New York City to learn more about potential business careers by touring various businesses. The Butler attendees also networked with leaders from those businesses and received tips and career advice. PBL first traveled to the Career Connections conference for the first time last year.
“A few of us were fortunate enough to attend it, and it was fabulous,” Akao said. “I was able to budget money for this conference, so we were able to send a few of our members.”
Students learned more about specific business industries depending upon the tours they were assigned to. For instance, Akao toured IBM and American Express. They also received general career advice as well as learn about the soft skills that employers are looking for.
PBL provides students opportunities to network, participate in community service activities, build leadership skills and use the skills learned in the classroom to compete in business related competitions.
“Phi Beta Lambda is the collegiate level of Future Business Leaders Association,” sophomore economics major Kenyatta Nyirenda Jr. said. “I am a part of it for many reasons, one of them being the business competitions we participate in and the learning experience of it all. For example, presenting a business idea to a room of judges, so … they may fund your idea is something I believe I’ll have to do in my lifetime as an entrepreneur or businessman. Partaking in these competitions can go a long way as well as networking with individuals that have similar interests as myself is very important if you want to build a successful career.”
Nyirenda, PBL president for the state of Kansas, connected with other business minded people while on his trip, one being a missionary worker that lived in Japan for two years and was continuing his studies to further support underprivileged communities.
“So many insightful individuals really help me diversify my understanding of people,” Nyirenda said. “It was, to say the least, overwhelming and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I could go on for hours how this experience is going to shape the college experience, and even more, my life.”
On Saturday, March 7, PBL plans to attend Emporia State University for state competitions. If the students place first or second in their event, they are qualified to compete at nationals. The national conference is in Salt Lake City, Utah from Wednesday, June 24 through Sunday, June 27.
The Butler Community College chapter of PBL is available to interested business students. For more information about PBL, students can contact Janice Akao at jakao@butlercc.edu.