Spring semester is often a stressful time for seniors nearing graduation. However, with a full-time offer from Capital One under her belt, Muneeba Ahmed is not feeling the heat. The Business Information Technology major and International Business minor attributes some of her success to the Collegiate Women in Business (CWIB) organization and its core message of ‘Prepare’.
“Focusing on ‘Prepare’, I think CWIB does a great job of that, whether you’re in leadership or you’re a member,” Muneeba said. “I feel like being in Collegiate Women in Business and being on the leadership team has really helped me a lot.”
One way that Muneeba feels that CWIB has helped her prepare for a future career is in her ability to successfully communicate with others.
“CWIB helped me with my communication skills, both oral communication and written communication,” Muneeba explained. “Writing emails seems simple, but it’s not something that everyone is good at. CWIB has really helped me with that. I’m not afraid to reach out to professionals in the real world because I know I can email them and sound professional too.”
Similarly, Muneeba feels that her leadership position as Vice President of Meetings and Treks has helped her learn how to successfully coordinate events from monthly meetings to annual treks.
“I’m involved in contacting people like recruiters or people who hold high positions in some companies that are interested in having events with us or being a speaker at one of our meetings,” Muneeba continued. “I assist the Chief Outreach Officer with planning these monthly meetings, having a set theme in mind, making sure our members are enjoying the meetings and just over-all making sure that the meetings are effective. I’m also planning treks that people go on throughout the semester, whether they are to New York or Washington, D.C.”
When she was just starting out in CWIB, Muneeba was unafraid to ask questions and seek the advice of older members. She believes this helped her reach the position she currently holds in the organization.
“As a member early on I felt like I was getting more prepared for the future because I connected with some of the people on the leadership team. I asked them ‘how do I fix my resume so I stand out from the crowd’,” Muneeba said. “Just talking to people who had already had experience with internships or had accepted full-time offers at that point really helped me prepare too. Asking questions has really helped me to prepare for the future.”
Muneeba encourages new members of CWIB now to reach out to older members when they need help or advice and to never be afraid to ask questions.
“What I felt like helped me the most is the same advice that I would give to any new member, whether they’re a freshman or a senior. Ask as many questions as possible. We’re all Hokies so no one is going to turn you down. We should all be there to help each other and give each other advice and just be there for each other.”