Felician University Continues Virtual Business Series for Professional Development!

When times get tough, or if maybe you are just trying to get ahead, sometimes the best plan is to change gears, look in a different direction, and maybe try something new.
That was the idea behind Felician University’s Alumni Helping Alumni Business networking event sponsored by Felician University and Alumni and Friends. The free online event – the second in a series of five – took place September 3, focusing on how to transition your current business career into another field.

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The keynote was given by Tom Truchan, CPA, who currently serves as Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Business and Finance for Felician University. Truchan told those who attended the virtual event that he worked in 6 different careers over 36 years before landing in higher education. “Don’t pigeonhole yourself by saying, I don’t want to work for a certain company, because keep in mind, companies do other things, they do things that could surprise you when you research them.” Something Truchan found out firsthand when he worked for Johnson & Johnson. “When I was at J&J,” Truchan said, “we made sausage casing.

So, think about what skill sets you have that you could put on your resume and then make it show that you can transition those skills into a new job.”

Truchan said it’s important to not get complacent, even if you like your current job adding, “if you’re really sincere about changing fields, take time to think about what skill sets you have that can transfer over to a new job and then think about how you can put those skills into your resume.” And Truchan says it’s a good idea to have multiple resumes ready that are tailored to particular careers and have the keywords companies are looking for. He also stressed the importance of having someone else review your resume for mistakes because, “you’d be surprised how many resumes have typos. For me, it was a stopper when I read a resume, if it had a typo.”

Supporting Truchan at the online networking event was Antonella LoBue who has two degrees from Felician University including an MBA, and now works as an online sales associate for Paul Miller Honda. LoBue shared ideas on how, “To get out of the retail rut” and transition to online sales, telling participants that transitioning to a new field might be a tough nut to crack but it’s not impossible. LoBue worked in the fashion industry for J.C. Penney for ten years, doing everything from human resources to operations, to merchandising, before getting laid off when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Her message to job seekers is to not discount their experience in retail pointing out that just because it’s a niche industry you don’t have to get stuck there. “You can bring whatever you do in retail to so many other industries. And again, the most important thing is building relationships.”

LoBue’s words resonated with fellow alum Jacquie Mirandi who added that it’s also important to be “authentic,” recalling how when she worked in retail, she kept loyal customers just by being honest about how they looked when trying on clothes even if it meant potentially losing a sale.

The goal of all Alumni and Friends virtual events is for Felician University alums to connect with friends and colleagues, discuss current topics, share ideas and questions all from the comfort of their homes. Diane Sedlmeir, Director of Alumni Engagement at Felician University welcomes ideas for the networking series at Sedlmeir@felician.edu

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About Felician University

Felician University engages over 2,300 undergraduate, graduate, and adult students through programs in Arts & Sciences, Business, Nursing, and Education. Universal Franciscan values of social justice, compassion, and respect for human dignity serve as an inclusive foundation for transforming the lives of tomorrow’s leaders. Felician University’s education is ranked 3rd best return on investment for private colleges in New Jersey 2018 by the PayScale.com College ROI Report and is ranked #1 safest college campus in the state by niche.com.