The College of Business hosted April Carpenter on Tuesday, March 3 to discuss professionalism in the workplace as part of its Career Readiness Month activities leading up to the annual BizConnect career fair.
April Carpenter is a learning and development program manager at Ampirical, an engineering services firm focused on power infrastructure.
Carpenter holds certifications including PHR and SHRM-CP, has a background in human resources and has experience across diverse industries, including pharmaceuticals, healthcare, oil and gas and retail with Gap Inc. brands.
In her presentation, Carpenter emphasized the importance of building and maintaining positive relationships with colleagues at all levels, setting clear boundaries, cleaning up one’s social media presence and staying well-informed about elements such as raises, benefits and bonuses.
She stressed going above and beyond to demonstrate professionalism, strategically networking to build beneficial connections and relationships with experienced professionals.
Carpenter shared what she considers the most important aspects of professionalism when going into a job.
She said, “The main thing is that your reputation, your image and credibility are really important and they follow you, so to go into a job knowing that and to be mindful of the way you communicate, it’s important to strategically plan and recognize who would be awesome to connect with at work.”
She said workplace friendships are natural and beneficial for navigating stress, but require balance and boundaries.
Carpenter shared that her post-graduation experience lacked guidance on workplace realities and motivated her to offer advice to students.
After sharing her personal experience, the floor opened for student questions, leading into an informational discussion about the professional workforce.
After Carpenter finished her lecture, freshman supply chain management major Elise Decoteau expressed that she found the talk highly valuable.
“It was really nice getting raw feedback from people who are more experienced than I am. It was cool seeing someone who’s in a professional lens any other time but here being herself and real with us,” Decoteau said.
For more information on this and upcoming events, visit the College of Business Instagram and SLU’s academic calendar.
