University business students understand the value of networking–building relationships with potential employers–prior to graduation. The trouble is, busy young scholars rarely have time to leave campus to visit offices and make those needed connections.
To get around this problem, one Chaminade University professor decided to bring the office networks to the campus instead.
Pamela Estell, Ph.D. is Chaminade’s Assistant Professor of Management, Human Resources, and Organizational Behavior. On September 11, Professor Estell hosted the first of what will become a series of casual breakfast gatherings between Chaminade students and Hawai‘i business professionals.
Estell is calling the special series ‘Coffee and Career Conversations’ and so far, the response from attendees is very promising.
Derenza Iriarte ‘27 Business Administration, said she went to the networking event with a clear sense of what she wanted to get out of it.
“Going into the event, I hoped to learn more about career opportunities, build my confidence in speaking with professionals, and gain advice that I could use as I prepare for life after college,” Iriarte said. “I definitely feel like I was able to get that out of the experience.”
Prof. Estell said she was inspired to organize Chaminade’s inaugural Coffee and Career Conversations event by her own college experience, back when she was required to attend a much larger and more formal business networking series. She remembers how awkward that was.
“Students in general at this age tend to find the networking situation difficult,” she explained in an interview. “It puts them out of their comfort zone a little bit. So, I was looking for ways to make that more accessible but still meaningful to the students.”
Though she was forced to don business attire to attend college networking sessions during her student days, Estell said she deliberately designed Chaminade’s Coffee and Career Conversations to be more informal, to put all participants at ease.
Though the networking events she attended as a college student sometimes involved up to 300 participants, Estell’s Coffee and Career Conversations event involved only about two dozen of her Career Development students and five professional mentors.
“I figured, what if I did something like a networking breakfast but at a much smaller, intimate scale,” she recalled. “That would make it more informal, more easily accessible to the students, and provide opportunities for one-on-one connections with local business professionals.”
“So, that’s how I had this idea for this Coffee and Career Conversations.”
The first event in the new series featured professionals from Bank of Hawai‘i.
Groups of students took turns rotating among tables in a campus conference room. Each rotation saw four students sitting down with one Bank of Hawai‘i employee. The five-way conversations lasted 25 minutes.
Each session was followed by a five-minute break, giving everyone a chance to refresh with coffee and pastries.
The student groups rotated through all the tables, giving everyone an opportunity to connect with one-another.
Caleb Kim, a student participant, said two of the professionals he interacted with helped put him at ease about his future plans.
“They answered all my questions, and the thing that stood out most was both professionals did not know what they wanted to do after graduating but found a passion,” Kim shared. “It gave me peace of mind cause I feel in a similar situation as them.”
Estell said she had prepared papers listing possible ice breaker questions that students could pose to the BOH team. This was just a fallback, and Estell said she was pleasantly surprised when many of the students skipped over her suggestions, having come armed with their own questions.
“A lot of students didn’t use those and I was really pleased with that because I wanted it to be organic,” she said. “I wanted them to ask the questions that they’d thought of, or talk to the mentors about things that were important to them.”
Chaminade alumni Rita Aponte, Business ‘24, now Senior Manager of Bank of Hawai‘i’s People Services Center, said the students she interacted with were well prepared.
“They asked great questions,” she said. “They asked about AI and how it affects the work we do, how automation has changed the way we process new hires, how important networking is for a potential candidate, what roles we offer at the bank.”
“They were really interested in what they can do to give themselves a leg up in the job market,” Aponte added.
Iriarte said the BOH employees were receptive and extremely helpful. “They were very open and willing to answer my questions, which made the conversations feel comfortable rather than overly formal,” she said.
Estell is already planning follow-up sessions, determined to keep Coffee and Career Conversations going. She’s hoping to win commitments from Hawaiian Airlines and the State of Hawai‘i, among other employers. She’s especially interested in getting health care professionals involved. “I think a lot of business students don’t realize that there are a lot of business professions within health care, and health care is a very big part of our employment here in Hawai‘i.”
The next Coffee and Career Conversations events are already in the works. Professor Estell says she’s organizing two more sessions for October and November.
Aponte said she wouldn’t mind participating again.
“I have a son around their age, so it was great to see and hear what things might concern them related to their futures outside of college.”
Iriarte said she is likewise looking forward to the next chance to network with Hawai‘i’s business community. “I would absolutely participate again because it was a great opportunity to network, learn from professionals, and make connections outside of the classroom.”
