GenFKD at ASU helps prepare students for their future careers by providing them with professional experiences and education in finance and marketing.
The non-profit group teaches students the skills they need to succeed once they graduate from college, according to its website. The group offers seminars in branding, pitching products and interviewing for a job. The organization invites entrepreneurs, professionals and experts of certain topics to share their knowledge and drive those lessons home.
Ryan Kemmer, an informatics sophomore, is the GenFKD Campus Fellow at ASU. He said he originally wanted to start a GenFKD chapter as an effort to further his own professional knowledge. He then realized these skills can help others succeed, and got the chapter off the ground last semester.
“The whole purpose of it is to open up more resources for entrepreneurship and financial awareness for college students,” Kemmer said. “A big problem with our generation as millennials is that a lot of people go to college, get an education, but don't necessarily have the tools to apply it to this fast-growing world.”
He said these can make a post-grad job applicant stand out in a crowded field.
“When you don’t have an edge on some people, then those who do will take your job,” Kemmer said. “There are a lot of people going to college which means tons of competition. If you really want to get an edge on others, you have to take the initiative to learn about the professional world.”
Kemmer said the group wants to vary their topics and continue the progress they made in the fall semester.
“We really want to go all out this semester as far as how we are approaching it,” Kemmer said.
Journalism sophomore Jaslyn Ravenscraft said she attended seminars last semester to help grow her professional brand and network with other students.
“I definitely think it is a great resource because it is kind of a networking event within itself,” Ravenscraft said. “You get to meet students who are your age, at your skill level and possibly even have the same interests as you, so you can grow together and create contacts for the future.”
Michael Zimmerlich, founder of 80/20 Records and an ASU alumnus, spoke at a seminar last November and helped students by giving them the professional advice he thought would be the most beneficial.
“What I was asked to speak about resonated with me,” Zimmerlich said.
One focal point of his lecture was networking and how important it is no matter what career a student chooses.
“Networking is so essential – it is the No. 1 thing to do in any field for anything,” Zimmerlich said. “You have to build relationships with people to advance.”
He thinks what GenFKD does to help students is accessible and vital to their success.
“I like it because it is open to everybody,” Zimmerlich said. “It is there to help students find what’s possible and explore their passions.”
Reach the reporter at smpere10@asu.edu or follow @therealsperez on Twitter.
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