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The Professional
Association for Industrial Distribution was established in 1982, by
students, to accomplish one goal: to make sure that every Industrial
Distribution student had the exposure that he/she needed in order to
make contacts and obtain a job upon graduating from Texas A&M
University. This goal led to the defining of the organization’s
mission statement, which is simply, “Linking Students With Industry.”
PAID has made giant leaps in expanding and modifying the original
model in the last 22 years and continues to grow in membership and
activity. At the end of the spring semester, PAID had approximately
430 members, which is about 87% of all students enrolled in the
Industrial Distribution program.
PAID hosts a
number of events that provide the interaction that the students need
to develop relationships, secure internships, and ultimately full time
jobs. The biggest event that the organization puts on is the PAID
Career Fair. Held once a year during the first or second week in
February, this event covers two days combines a golf scramble for
students and company representatives, and a networking social at a
local billiards club on the first day, and the actual job fair on the
following day. The job fair is held at Reed Arena on the Texas A&M
campus, and companies pay to have a booth set up along the concourse
to recruit the best and brightest the Industrial Distribution program
has to offer. Around 400 students attend the event, with only
approximately 500 students enrolled in the department. This is the
only completely student-run, student-financed career fair on the
university campus. Proportionately, the ID Career Fair attracts many
more companies per major than the College of Engineering or College of
Business Career Fairs, which support multiple majors at the same
fair.
Our biggest
recruiting event in the fall is the Holiday Banquet, which occurs in
November. The banquet was started as a way to honor Industry guests
that had given of their time, money, and expertise to better the ID
Program. It continues to do that today, as well as honoring a
faculty/staff member that has gone above and beyond to help PAID.
Companies pay to sponsor a table at the banquet, and send 1-3
representatives to sit with a table of students. It is a lovely event
that also acts as a recruiting function for those students graduating
in December. College of Engineering and Texas A&M officials attend,
and the event usually hosts close to 500 individuals, including
students, reps, and A&M staff.
We also put on a
number of smaller events that companies and associations can get
involved in. Power lunches are hosted 2-4 times a semester on the
back lawn of our building on campus. A company sponsors the lunch,
and advertises their company at an informal atmosphere. Students come
to the lunch before, after, or in between classes. Professors and
staff attend, as well as encourage the students in their classes to go
down to the lunch and get to know the company sponsoring. It is a
great opportunity for a company to get quite a bit of face time with
the ID students without any other companies there.
Another group of
events PAID hosts is our business meetings. Held 2-3 times a
semester, a company sends two to three representatives, (many times
alumni of the program) to put on a presentation about their respective
company and answer questions that students have about recruiting,
locations, opportunities, etc. Again, it is another one on one
opportunity without the attendance of other companies. The PAID
officer group takes the reps out to dinner before the meeting in order
for the reps to get a better feel for what the organization is trying
to accomplish by the company being there. Other forms of business
meeting that we hold are forums and cross-fires, both of which HEL has
participated in a number of times.
Casino Social and
Alumni BBQ are two free events that PAID sponsors to give thanks to
companies and alumni that have been unwavering in their support for
our students and this organization. Casino Social is held in
September, and 10-13 gaming tables are offered to the companies that
have attended all the events PAID puts on. Each company sends reps to
preside at the table sponsored in their name. It is a time for them
to recruit students, have a good time, and build relationships without
having to write a check for it. Alumni BBQ will now be held in the
spring in conjunction with a Texas Aggie Baseball game. PAID invites
all ID alumni to come back to College Station to visit with their
classmates, eat, and enjoy a great game on us.
There
are several social outings that PAID puts together every semester
without any Industry in attendance. These are held to encourage ID
students to get out there and get to know their classmates in a fun
setting, like bowling, paintball, or sand volleyball. A new event
that I am starting for next spring is the 1st Annual PAID
Crawfish Boil. This is intended to be a fun, informal event, and a
mix between the socials and the Industry events. It will be formatted
for the “friends of PAID,” which of course includes HEL. Another new
item for PAID will be the addition of the HEL membership drive. As
President, I will push that PAID members also join HEL. This will
allow them to attend more HEL events in Houston and have another
organization to put on their resume. This effort will also hopefully
boost the membership for HEL. A resume posting section for us on your
website will be a big draw for our students to join. I do recommend
that the posting only be available to those students who have paid for
an HEL student membership. That will make it more of an incentive to
go ahead and join. The resume posting section can be divided into
areas that will be easily searchable by member companies, as far as
those students looking for internships, co-ops, or full time
positions. I would also
recommend that the site be capable of searching for specific criteria,
like minimum GPA’s, work experience, etc. so that your members can
narrow the field and find exactly the type of individual they are
interested in pursuing. In order to reduce communication errors, I
would also recommend that if a member is interested in contacting a
student whose resume is posted, that they directly contact that
student, not a PAID officer to find that student.
I am excited about
the events that we will continue to put on, as well as the new ones
that haven’t been tried out yet. I look forward to great attendance,
not only on the part of the students, but on the companies as well. I
would like to send you notices about our upcoming events for you to
highlight on our section of the HEL website and post a link to our
website. Similarly, we will do the same for your HEL events, as well
as post a link to your website on ours. A formal schedule has not
been finalized as of yet, but I will make it available to the HEL
board as soon as it is ready. If any individual companies that are
members of HEL are interested in participating in any of the above
mentioned events, please contact me as soon as possible. Thank you
for your support, and I know that the PAID-HEL relationship will only
continue to flourish and grow as we help each other.
Best Regards
Kellie E. Hayman ‘05
President
Prof. Assn. for Industrial Dist.
3367 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3367
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