5 questions for ... Laleh Malek

Photo by Kanji Takeno

Increasing CBE internship opportunties key priority for director of professional experience

by Stuart Zang

Doubling the number of TU student internships over five years is a 2010 action item. Laleh Malek, director of professional experience for the College of Business and Economics, explains how CBE is bringing students and the business community together.

What are your responsibilities?

I coordinate internships and career services for CBE students. I also host various educational and networking events, such as forums on women entrepreneurs, women in leadership and a career mentoring forum featuring CBE alumni, to name a few. We also sponsor CBE student participation in the Greater Baltimore Technology Council MoshPit competition and The Associate competition at TU.

Tell me about the TU Match program.

TU Match is designed to bring the “right” students to the “right” businesses. It is one of several ways CBE is addressing the 2010 action item to double the number of TU student internships over five years. This program benefits everyone involved. Our students gain challenging work and professional experience, while businesses gain qualified students, which streamlines the hiring process.

What do local businesses think of TU Match?

They’ve been quite receptive. I’ve built relationships with companies where they feel free to call me for advice and can tell me what our students need to know to be successful in the business world. My CBE colleagues and I are in a unique position to convey this information to the next generation of business people.

What types of feedback do you receive from the business community?

They’ve told us that students need to understand what networking is all about and why it is important. They also want students to know about proper business attire—since business casual came along and blurred the line as to what different companies expect. We’ve responded by hosting “The Importance of Networking” forum in the fall and the “Dress Smart” forum in the spring. These things that can make a difference between getting and not getting an internship or job.

Have TU alumni been helpful in providing internships and job leads?

Absolutely. A CBE alumnus who graduated three years ago saw the TU Match page on our Web site, called me and said, "Listen, my company is happy that I'm a TU graduate and is interested in hiring others." At that point the company hired a CBE student and two months later hired six more. We're finding that alumni who get involved in activities such as the career mentoring forum and TU Match are becoming more actively involved with TU on the whole.

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