How can engineering students get a crash course in business? Through the Business Immersion Program at Texas A&M University. On this episode of Just a SEC, the student hosts chat with industrial engineering senior Edward Hirs and Dr. Andrew Loring, associate director of Reynolds and Reynolds Sales Leadership Institute, about this two-week program offered in joint partnership between the College of Engineering and Mays Business School.
How can engineering students get a crash course in business? Through the Business Immersion Program at Texas A&M University. On this episode of Just a SEC, the student hosts chat with industrial engineering senior Edward Hirs and Dr. Andrew Loring, associate director of Reynolds and Reynolds Sales Leadership Institute, about this two-week program offered in joint partnership between the College of Engineering and Mays Business School.
Howdy and welcome to Just a SEC, the segment where we talk about how to succeed both professionally and academically at Texas A&M. On today's episode, we'll be learning about the Business Immersion Program, a crash course designed to give engineers the knowledge they need to succeed in the business world. For the program, with us today we have Dr. Andrew Loring, associate director of the Reynolds and Reynolds Sales Leadership Institute and senior lecturer at Mays Business School. We also have Edward Hirs, alum of the Business Immersion Program and current senior in the industrial engineering department. So, as an engineer, why would I want to be involved on the business side of things? Like, what benefit does that give me that makes me stand out from, perhaps, other engineers?
Dr. Andrew Loring:So, the first thing that comes to my mind is a lot of recruiters want students to be a little bit well rounded from a business knowledge and competency standpoint. So, although you can do the technical and the analytical, also being able to apply it to business settings is imperative. So this program gives you that general business knowledge, but also it's application based so you get to test it in a live environment in front of a panel of judges. We actually have two programs designed for engineering majors. The first of which is Business Immersion, which is basically like a two-week intensive business minor. So students learn accounting, finance, marketing management, supply chain, and they apply it to a project at the end of those two weeks and present back to a panel of judges. So, it's a crash course in business. We also have the Sales+Analytics Immersion Program, which takes a deep dive into sales and communication skills for any engineering major that wants to be in a customer facing consulting or sales role post-grad.
Ritika Bhattacharjee:From your experience as a professor for the program, what do you feel are some of the key attributes a successful engineer who goes into the business side of things should have or work to develop?
Dr. Andrew Loring:We take any engineering major that's interested in learning more about themselves and learning more about business and sales. So, it's anyone who's willing to learn and really work hard. You come out of it, though, with a greater heightened awareness of yourself
Ritika Bhattacharjee:Transitioning a little bit, a question for Edward; Do you feel as though there were things that you learned in the program that you wouldn't have gotten from any other experiences, say your internships or classroom projects?
Edward Hirs:Definitely. So, I just finished an internship with SEM-X this past summer, managing their transport. But during the sales and analytics program, I learned a lot about corporate structures and who kind of makes decisions in a corporation because with sales, you have to find that decision-maker. And it was really cool to learn all about that and see it kind of in action when I was doing the internship and trying to get someone to make some changes to some systems in their operations.
Drew DeHaven:What kind of projects did you work on in the program?
Edward Hirs:Okay, so in the program, we had two case competitions. The first one was sponsored by WESCO, the distribution company, and we were basically selling solar panel installation equipment. And that was a really fun competition. I loved that. It was a one-on-one with WESCO people. And we were just selling to them. And then the second case competition was a team one. It was a marketing problem. And we're trying to increase the market share of the Microsoft
Ritika Bhattacharjee:So, taking a step back a little bit for Surface. engineers who might be listening in our audience who don't necessarily have any understanding of what the business side of things is, could you give us a brief overview of that Professor Loring or Edward?
Dr. Andrew Loring:Yeah, of course. So, this might be a long winded answer and I apologize in advance, but it's very, very important. I find as an instructor, one of my main responsibilities is helping my students find the perfect career, the perfect career. Now, in marketing, similar to engineering, it's not as easy as people think. It's not as easy to find that ultimate question of what should I do with my life. I may have made a decision to major in X, Y, or Z. But now what do I do in the real world. So, I made the wrong decision. After I finished my undergrad. To back up a little bit, I finished back in 2009 with an undergrad undergrad degree in marketing and I took a job in sales that was the complete worst fit career-wise with me and my strengths. But at the time, I didn't realize that other than the fact that I hated going to work every day. And, so, eventually I quit and went back to grad school. And it wasn't even until after grad school and I took the job at Texas A&M. I moved to Texas from the northeast. And I started to learn more about myself, my personality, and what I really want to do with my life. And what I realized was that what I wanted to do had little to do with my hobbies, a company that I was working for, the amount of money I was making, but had everything to do with my personality. So, I became really invested in the in the Gallup or the CliftonStrengths Assessment, however you want to say it today. And I learned a lot about myself. And, come to find out that right now in teaching, my top five CliftonStrengths, themes are perfect for what I do. So, ever since I became invested in that assessment, I've made it a personal mission of mine to invest back into every single student that I'm around. And, so, in the two immersion programs, we do extensive CliftonStrengths help in those areas to help students understand who they are. And from there, I help direct them to a career path that is a perfect fit, perfect fit. So I helped them answer that question. And in both programs, I mean, that's what we do. We try to help students understand how to best apply their themes to their life.
Ritika Bhattacharjee:And personal testimonial. I actually spoke with Professor Loring right before my first internship in technical sales and by taking the CliftonStrengths and having that conversation with him, I was actually able to redirect my career path to more R&D focused work. And I enjoyed that a lot more than technical sales, even though I love communicating. I love storytelling. So, it really does work and I can't overemphasize that enough. So, a little bit more about that from Edward, how do you feel as though that education, the other education that we're always talking about in engineering, and at Texas A&M helped prepare you to become a better engineer? Or do you want to go into a different career path after graduation?
Edward Hirs:I was interested in consulting going into this program. And I thought that sales and analytics would do well for me and teach me a little more about business, get more comfortable around businessmen and communicating with them. But my CliftonStrengths ended up being more suited for technical sales. So, I've been looking into that a lot. And I feel like I've learned a lot about businesses that I would not have learned through engineering. And my dad always says, "Whatever you study, make sure you study business so that you can make some money with it." And I feel like this has definitely given me the opportunity to use my degree in a more effective way, now that I know more about businesses and how they operate, and where I could fit in with my strengths and where I could really grow.
Drew DeHaven:That's funny that you mentioned that I remember my dad saying something really similar growing up. Because he had an engineering background, but he did some sort of program which allowed him just to get massive exposure to lots of businesses and he was just learning all these names and all these tidbits about companies and what they do. And he says that helps him even still today when he hears a company, he just knows what they do and kind of who works there. And that just helps him in all these conversations he has. So, is that something that you find you get in this program is just a lot of networking and connections as well?
Edward Hirs:Yes, definitely. The sponsors were Deloitte, WESCO, ADV, Grundfos. I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple. But they were awesome. A couple of recruiters, I'm still in touch with trying to find some positions with their companies and they were all super nice, super friendly, and willing to reach out to any of the students that take the program.
Ritika Bhattacharjee:I know emotional intelligence is a huge part of sales and part of business and that's a critical part of the program as well. So, could you expand upon that a little bit about how emotional intelligence is approached within the program, and also what value it brings to the engineers in the program?
Dr. Andrew Loring:Yeah, so we use the CliftonStrengths Assessment as the backbone of the understanding of everything Emotional Intelligence base, and it starts with self awareness. So, you get to put labels on to the reason why we have really good days, why we have really bad days, stressful days, happy days. You get to think about, specifically, what was it about my day that led to something feeling good or bad. And so once you grasp the fact that we do have good days and bad days, we need to be better understanding about it, then you can think about others awareness, you can think about the awareness of other people and how we're different. For the longest time, a lot of people have thought that we needed to be good at everything. We need to be a jack-of-all-trades. In the CliftonStrengths world it really encourages you to be really good at what you're really good at personality-wise. So, we really focus on the other awareness pieces to know the areas where you need help from other people so you can stick with being great at what you're already great at.
Drew DeHaven:I think that's a really interesting point. One thing I always think about is that self awareness is kind of like a double-edged sword. Because not only do you get to learn your strengths, but you also really learn your weaknesses. So, a question for y'all is, how do you pitch a product or pitch yourself, knowing your strengths, but also in the back of your mind you have your weaknesses that you're like, "Well, how do I really sell myself, knowing that I have these shortcomings?"
Dr. Andrew Loring:Yeah, that's a great question. So, it all begins with understanding what you do bring to the table. Because what you do bring to the table you're going to enjoy most every single day. And, so, in sales, it doesn't really matter what your top five themes are, it's having the understanding of how to productively apply them to the situation that you're in. Maybe, for example, you are a good networker, you love meeting new people. And, so, you've got strengths like communication and woo and activator. And you just love meeting new people over and over and over, again. Well, that's great. And you can apply those to a sales situation that requires that you meet new people. But, commonly, you might find someone that's like"Networking? I hate networking, career fairs, those are awful. They're exhausting. They're tiring. I can't wait to for it to be over." And they asked me,"Well, I must not be good in sales, then." And my answer is always "No way. Of course, you're good in sales, you've just got to look for a sales role that's more of an account management role that doesn't require you to door knock and meet new people every day, but rather build relationships over several decades, with very few customers that you have."
Edward Hirs:I can add on to that actually, sorry. During the case competition and the sales competition, I was playing everything to my strengths. So, I was learner, restorative, relator, and analytical. And being analytical and a learner and a relator, that works really well for me because I'm interested in learning about the person in front of me. So, that's the learner right there. I'm analytical, so I'll pick up on what they say and kind of read into it. And relator, I like deep connections with people, so I'll offer part of, like, my story to them, as well, in order to relate to them and build a trusting connection, which is like one of the most important parts of sales right there. And, like, I've carried that through to internship interviews and all that. It's a skill that I'm never gonna forget.
Ritika Bhattacharjee:So, I think one of the final questions I have for both of you; What are some of your guiding principles for life moving forward, considering that sales builds skills for life, it's not just for a job?
Dr. Andrew Loring:So as far as where to take it from here and future, strengths is a lot of, like, leadership development. Some people think that you learn about yourself and then you can move on. But the truth is, you've got to keep on learning about yourself and applying the situations to it. Because we are, we're always changing. We're always changing and adapting to the situations that we're in. And we always need to be introspective, and ask ourselves, "What is it about our personality that we really need, given the situation that we're in?" That's true emotional intelligence, is being able to flip it around and ask ourselves, "Why aren't I happy today?" So, what we give you in the programs is the foundation to be able to look introspectively in the future and ask yourself, "How can I reduce the stress in my life? What is it about my life that's adding to my stress?"
Edward Hirs:I would say that the analytical side of the program teaches you how to analyze markets and that's useful throughout life, as we are all consumers. And I think one of the best things about the sales aspect of this program was the strengths. Knowing your strengths and your own weaknesses. It's really great because then you get to understand other people and what strengths they might have, what weaknesses they might have, and who might complement you, as well as being able to sell yourself a little more. That'll help you in relationships all throughout life, just building trusting relationships and friendships.
Ritika Bhattacharjee:If you're interested in learning more about your Gallup-CliftonStrengths, reach out to Professor lorring or visit the TAMU Leadership Library. The library is open to students, staff and faculty and is located in Koldus 142 with the Department of Students Activities. The next Business Immersion Program will be held in January 2022, so be on the lookout for registration details in late October. In the meantime, feel free to visit the Reynolds and Reynolds Sales Leadership Institute page for upcoming events and opportunities. Thanks for listening to another episode of SoundBytes.
Hannah Conrad:Thanks for listening to the Texas A&M Engineering SoundBytes podcast. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the Texas A&M University System. SoundBytes is part of the Texas A&M Podcast Network. To find more official Texas A&M podcasts, go to podcast tamu.edu