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‘‘ One expert later confessed that when she was coming for the session, she had no idea what to expect, but after the event, she felt so invigorated and challenged by the students.’’ potential employee can add to the business. Joining a professional body gives you a chance to interact with industry professionals and keep up with the fast paced changing environment. Focus on professional qualifications like those offered by the Chartered Institute of Marketing before rushing for a Masters degree. This will allow you to differentiate yourself in the work place and make settling into the marketing role much easier. You can be in the position of having to manage a brand you personally may never use or consume. Learn how to derive and understand customer insights to assist you with your planning and execution. The second part of the session involved the industry experts, each sitting around a table with students, getting to share their own career experiences, telling their own individual stories. The students had so many questions, and even when time was up for the official part of the session, most students and industry experts stayed on, forming bonds and soaking up knowledge. One expert later confessed that when she was coming for the session, she had no idea what to expect, but after the event, she felt so invigorated and challenged by the students. Different tables opted to introduce their own methods of follow up. Some students wanted to shadow the experts, some industry experts started Whatsapp groups for their table members and others got to learn about a few of the corporates that were represented there. Quite a few corporates announced that they would be holding recruitment drives, giving the students an opportunity to have a deeper look at the organisations they would like to work for. The forum was brimming with energy and passion from the industry experts, many of whom wanted to be invited back to continue sharing. Some said it felt like giving back to society. Feedback from the students was positive, with the only downside that time wasn’t enough to speak with all the experts. Watch this space for the next forum. Strathmore University is taking marketing to the next level!! Thrity Engineer–Mbuthia is the founder and CEO of Thrity Engineer Consulting: a marketing strategy development, communications and training consultancy. She is also Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, a Chartered Marketer and a CIM Tutor. You can commune with her on this or related issues via mail at: [email protected].