W students learn about career opportunities, internships during Ingalls tour
Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, recently welcomed a group of W students, faculty and staff to its campus in south Mississippi for a comprehensive tour of the facilities and the opportunity to learn about career opportunities with the manufacturer.
The group consisted of 12 business students, five business faculty and two staff members from the Career Services and Professional Development Center, who traveled to the facility in October.
“The goal of the trip was to learn about their summer internship program which allows students to gain experience in administrative positions such as HR, management, accounting and marketing,” said Dr. Dee Larson, chair of the Department of Business at The W.
Ingalls is the largest manufacturing employer in the state, employing more than 11,000 people, according to its website. The company manufactures various types of military ships for the United States Navy and Coast Guard.
“During our visit to Ingalls, we were able to tour the shipyard and attend a presentation on internships and job opportunities at Ingalls. The shipyard is on 800 acres of land, and on the bus tour, we were able to learn about the shipbuilding process and see some of the many stages of the process. It was incredible to see the size of the ships and the number of employees on-site,” said Elise Wilson, director of the CSPD Center.
A renewed emphasis in the relationship between The W and Ingalls began in April when a university liaison from Ingalls came to campus to speak to business students and meet with faculty.
“This presentation grew the students’ interest in pursuing an internship at Ingalls, however, the application window had already closed. During that campus visit, we were invited to bring a group of students down for a tour in the fall. It was important to myself and Dr. Larson that the tour was planned during a time that the internship applications were live. The CSPD Center has a positive relationship with several representatives at Ingalls. Ingalls Shipbuilding also funds a scholarship through the MUW Foundation,” Wilson said.
Tours such as this are important for students for a number of reasons, according to Larson.
“They serve to broaden the horizons of students and open their eyes to the many different types of businesses that hire business majors. They also learned about operations production management, a course they all take at The W,” she said.
The CSPD Center has more tours planned, but the details are still being worked out.
“Our goal is to take students on at least one ‘Career Trek’ per semester. Currently, we are working to identify a business in the GTR area for our next trip,” Wilson said.
Both the CSPD Center and the Department of Business are grateful for the collaboration which makes opportunities such as this possible.
To learn more about the Career Services and Professional Development Center, please visit www.muw.edu/careers/,and to see all of the majors offered by the College of Business and Professional Studies, please visit www.muw.edu/buspro/.