PSU Makes Strides at National Business Competition

PSU seniors Yvonne McLenithan and Kevin Cressy competed at the 16th annual National Collegiate Sales Competition (NCSC) at Kennesaw State University in Georgia on Mar. 28-31, 2014. Sales competitions are an essential training tool and provide students with an opportunity to share and refine skills in real-life sales contexts. 

Their tasks at this competition included producing over twenty role-plays with business professionals and business professors to develop their skills and to get them used to the sales process, wearing the proper business attire, and to ask the right questions.

The NCSC hosted over 70 undergraduate teams, 200 volunteers, and in total more than 800 students interested in sales careers.  With this great mix of students already looking for careers beyond graduation and companies ready to hire aspiring salespeople, the NCSC has become the perfect storm for recruiting young business prospects.  

The NCSC continues to draw interest and participation from the most elite sales programs from universities around the world because of the exceptional faculty working with the next generation of sales leaders.  

"PSU students competed at the National Collegiate Sales Competition last weekend, the worlds largest sales competition...we ranked high enough to come back....unlike U-Conn or SNHU who did not, and are on a waiting list," said Robert Nadeau, Professor and Director of the Professional Sales Program. 

"I feel so lucky to have earned the opportunity to attend and compete in the NCSC. It was a great experience and has not only given me a new network of business professionals but also an immense competitive advantage on the job market. Many companies have been reaching out to me and I have a lot of opportunities coming my way," said PSU senior Yvonne McLenithan, Marketing major with a concentration in Professional Sales.

The atmosphere at NCSC could be intimidating to any newcomer, as each room encompassed employers scouting new talent among 50 different companies. "They were recruiting us like a cat after a mouse. There were many young colleagues who had attended the NCSC just years before when they were in college and were there this year promoting the company they work for now.  It's almost an indescribable event that you don't really understand until you experience it first hand," said McLenithan.

Multiple executives from the competition found Plymouth State students to be very outgoing and pleasant. "Plymouth State unlike many other universities was able to bring 9 students overall, 2 that competed and 7 alternates who had the privilege to network and attend the job fair," said McLenithan.

"The NCSC impacted my life by providing me with not just countless contacts for future employment but also the ability to use the experience as something that I can put as a differentiator on a résumé. The Fortune 500 companies that were present at the NCSC obviously have seen the talent that comes from the competition, and that's why they keep coming back, but in any future interviews with companies that may have not heard of the competition, it's a great story to tell," said PSU senior, Kevin Cressy, Business Administration major.

The event emphasizes competition, professional networking, and casual networking, "The atmosphere is very intense around the competition, and knowing you only have one shot to close a meeting with the eyes in the sky judging everything about how you conduct the meeting can be stressful," said Cressy.

The competition aspect was only a small part of the overall experience. "Once I was done competing there were over fifty companies inside their gymnasium all with booths wanting to talk with you about their company and the opportunities they were trying to hire for," said Cressy. 

The NSCS gave students the opportunity to make a good first impression with employers and  set up formal and causal interviews. "While at this event everyone is wearing professional business attire, full suits and ties. The casual networking was where I got the most out of the competition. After meeting with many representatives of these companies during the day I got invited by a handful to join the companies "mixer" that night at whatever restaurant they were having it at. At these mixers, the dress is more business casual, and you get a chance to learn more about the companies over food and drinks," said Cressy.

Overall PSU did very well in the competition. McLenithan and Cressy locked in their programs invite back to next year's competition due to their qualifying scores in round one. "Only 50 out of the 70 universities will get an invite back so it was imperative that Yvonne and I got that assured first for our program," said Cressy. 

After round one Cressy ended up making it to the quarterfinal round. The NCSC has not released official scores as of now, "but knowing the fact I made it to quarter finals that would have to put me somewhere in the top 30 out of over 120 competitors," said Cressy.

The general consensus amongst most college students is to graduate college, find a job, and make a lot of money. Competitions such as the NCSC give students the ability to see thorough this outlook more and achieve more steps to reach these goals, "I think that the NCSC has shown me that you can make a lot of money but at the same time be inspired by what you're doing and if you can be inspired every day and still get paid for it, I think you're doing all right," said Cressy.

Finding a job is the typically the sought-out goal amongst college students, McLenithan and Cressy, fall into this category and thanks to the NCSC they have increased their connections and job opportunities. 

"Hopefully by the end of April I will have six choices of where I want to start my career. I know many of my friends in other schools or other programs are beginning to worry about not having any interviews set up, so I consider myself very fortunate to have so many possibilities," Cressy.

The NCSC is a rewarding event for college students, and provides most participants with jobs after graduation and further business connections. "Several companies are heavily pursuing myself and the eight other students who attended the NCSC.  I never thought I'd be overwhelmed with selecting what company I want to work for but it's a great problem to have. I'm exploring my options and interviewing with quite a few companies currently but plan to commit to a job within the next couple of weeks.  I'm interested in medical device sales and set a goal for myself to make at least 100k by my third year out of college," said McLenithan.

PSU's College of Business Administration (CoBA) brings out the best in students who want to study business. Business courses are designed to prepare you to succeed in today's dynamic business environment. With this major you'll explore different areas of business and develop expertise in specialized business subjects such as finance, marketing, accounting, sports management, and professional sales, etc.

"The PSU business department has given me the foundation I need for the "real world."  We're all fortunate enough to get an education from professors who currently are or have been successful in their careers. What better training can we get than their knowledge and experience in the field first hand?," said McLenithan.

"After taking a sales one course, I knew that this was something I could see myself doing. Over the years I've enjoyed working with the other students/professors in these classes the most because they are all similar to me. People in sales are generally good with people so working alongside these colleagues over the years has been great," said Cressy.

"The competitive sales class that prepped us for this competition was an amazing learning experience. I highly recommend students in sales one and two to participate in the competitions in order to qualify for the class.  It most definitely gives you a competitive advantage when applying for jobs. I want to thank all of the professors and local business professionals who helped prep Kevin and I for the competition.  I especially want  to thank all of the time, efforts and support from Professor Nadeau. He is very dedicated to his students and will do whatever it takes for each and everyone of us to success," said McLenithan.