Shireen Gul
COPY EDITOR

Pakistan Student Association (PSA)
is finally back with a bang. It has been quite
a while since they were active on campus but
this semester, they are planning to have some
interesting events for the Hawks so that stu-
dents can get to know them and learn about
their country and culture.

The association’s description says,
“There is no other organization at IIT that spe-
cifically promotes cultural and humanitarian
awareness of Pakistan. With this organization,
the student body of HT will be enriched with
the knowledge of a country that significantly
impacts the world community. This organiza-
tion will help students learn about our diverse
culture and traditions, which we brought with
us.

The elections for the new academic
year were held last Saturday, September 20,
and the results are as follows:

President — Shireen Gul

Secretary - Kapeel Daryani

Marketing Chair - Irshad Hussain

Treasurer - Samreen Kalani

Digital Media Content Manager —
Karanjeet Singh

Event Planner - Niveta Chandrasek—
ar

The new team is enthusiastic about
their newly born organization and they plan
on hosting very interesting events in the fu-

ture. They had their first executive board meet-
ing on Tuesday, September 23, where they an-
nounced the official results of the elections.

Kapeel Daryani, Secretary of PSA
said, “We are really happy to bring this associa-
tion back to life and are hopeful that we will
be able to leave a good impact on campus.”
When asked about their upcoming events,
Irshad Hussain, Marketing Chair said, “Since
many of our friends are insisting to arrange
a cricket match, it would be our first priority.
Apart from that we are also planning to have a
kickoff party pretty soon.”

PSA plans to organize more cultural
events on campus because Pakistan is very
culturally rich and this is a great opportunity
to make everyone aware of it. They also plan
on conducting a singing competition in which
all the participants will sing folk songs from
their countries, and a fashion show. The fash-
ion show will be themed ‘World Traditional
Fashion Show’, in which students wear their
traditional clothes. If any other organizations
are interested in this event, they can send an
email to psa@iit.edu.

Finally, don’t forget to join them on
Hakaink and like them on Facebook under
the name of ‘IIT Pakistan Student Association’.
They will also be on the MTCC Bridge every
Monday during lunch (12:45 pm. to 1:45 pm.)
Stop by to ask any questions or grab some free
goodies.

The game of job hunting:

Zaira Ortiz
TECHNEWS WRITER

The last episode, “The Game of
Job Hunting: The First Investigation” spoke
about employment, students, and what stu-
dents and professors think about IIT. We
ended the article with the question, “Why
isn’t the undergraduate Stuart School of
Business ranked?” This week I have the an-
swers for you.

I interviewed Helen Ezenwa, a
director at the Stuart Career Management
Center and Kayla Portillo, a senior director
in Stuart Marketing and Communications,
on the morning of Friday, September 26.

The interview took place on the
18th floor of the IIT Tower in the Dean’s
suite. In an office overlooking the world,
there was no better place to discuss how
students can one day have a similar office
as well. Our interview began with a simple
yet insightful question, “What is the job
placement for students who graduate from
Stuart?” Ezenwa answered this question by
saying, “So, the job placement rate, which
we are looking at from last year, because
this year’s hasn’t been published yet, is 69%.”
Very close to 70%, and this in an exceptional
number for students attending Stuart. Clari-
fying the percentage, Kayla jumped in and
said, “And that is for all programs, at the un-
dergraduate level the job placement is 79%.”

Many students reading this article
are undergraduate business students. What
does it mean to you to be enrolled in a pro-
gram that has a 79%, almost 80%, job place-

ment rate for undergraduates after gradua-
tion?

The interview continued with the
question that readers were left with last
week, “What is the Stuart School of Business
undergraduate ranking?” Acknowledging
that there are multiple types of rankings a
business school could have, Portillo asked,
“I’m curious about what you mean ranked;
ranked in what way?” That was a great ques-
tion, hopefully one that readers have too,
and I answered her question with, “National
ranking; a ranking that compares us to other
schools. A general ranking that compares us
to other business programs.” At this, Ezenwa
responded, “Okay. There are a lot of differ-
ent rankings 3 business program can have
and currently Stuart is not ranked, but it
is because we have not participated in the
ranking.” She continued, “The main crite-
ria that most of those rankings look at are
placement numbers. Historically we haven’t
had that data to submit. Now that we have it,
we’re applying to new rankings for the next
couple years.”

This is why the Stuart School of
Business undergraduate program hasn’t
been ranked. The data hasn’t been there
in the past to apply for ranking, but now
we have it. At this point in the interview,
Portillo added, “If you look at US. News
or Bloomberg we’re probably not going to
be listed there. Where we are ranked, and
where the university has some interesting
numbers on this, is the return on investment
for your degree. Payscale.com does a survey
of undergraduate alumni essentially to see

technewsiit.com

OPINION 2
AETE 3
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SPORTS 7

 

Phtoo byShireen Gul

The second investigation

how well they’re doing in their careers after
they graduate. And IIT, I believe, is the top
ranked school.” After our interview, Portillo
sent me the payscale.com link, and yes, it is
true. IIT is number one on return on invest—
ment in Illinois. Check out payscale.com for
some other interesting rankings IIT has.
Although this article is focusing
on undergraduate rankings for the Stuart
School of Business, it is impossible to not
acknowledge the achievements of the Mas-
ters of Finance program at UT. The gradu-
ate level Finance program at IIT is ranked
third in the nation. So, for all you Finance
majors thinking of going to graduate school,
stay exactly where you are at IIT. Portillo
mentioned in our interview, “Even though
the ranking is a graduate ranking, Stuart un-
dergraduate students are still taking classes
from these expert faculty who are teaching
in this very well—recognized program.”
Continuing our interview, I asked
a question sparked from my own curiosity,
“What do you think IIT Stuart’s competitive
advantage is compared to other business
schools?” Portillo replied, “What we hear
from our students is that the business market
is becoming increasingly tech-driven, and
so studying business at a technology focused
university like Illinois Tech gives them a leg-
up when they’re looking for career opportu-
nities. You’re taking classes with engineers,
scientists, and programmers, and you’re
working on IPROs and other collaborative
projects with people. Also, when you enter
the job market, you have those team-based
skills, and you have the knowledge of how

other professionals work and that will make
you more competitive in the job market.”

To my fellow students, this is your
advantage over other undergraduates from
different universities. This is exactly how
you differentiate yourself to interviewers as
talented, skilled, and prepared interviewees.
When applying for jobs after graduation,
don’t forget your advantage.

The next question asked was,
“What are the five key differences between
students who are able to find a job after
graduation compared to those who aren’t?”
Ezenwa, our CMC expert, said, “The top
three, I would say, that come to mind would
be those that focused a lot of energy on net-
working during their education, we offer
a number of opportunities for individuals
who want to participate in industry—focused
events. We bring individuals onto campus
from a number of organizations like IBM,
or some of the other financial institutions
in the Chicagoland area. We are constantly
encouraging students to attend and partici-
pate, network, use their 30—second sell, so
that they’re able to learn more about the or—
ganization and themselves. I think network-
ing is key.

The other thing that I noticed
is that for some students that are having a
harder time finding a position is that they’re
waiting too late.” Whether you’re a first year
or you’re a sixth year undergraduate, it’s
never too early to start looking for employ-
ment. I overheard someone say, “The best
time to look for a job is when you have a

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