Every day, 420,000 employees across the world work together to contribute to the success of Sodexo, the world’s largest quality of life services company; Sodexo touches the lives of 75 million consumers in 80 countries every day.

On Friday, March 28, 2014, students from the University of Maryland, College Park’s (UMCP) Robert H. Smith School of Business at the Universities at Shady Grove (USG) were given a firsthand look at what it is like to work at Sodexo by several of those employees. Amanda St. John, Senior Recruiter, Talent Acquisition Manager, was integral to the success and coordination of the event at Sodexo.

USG’s Career and Internship Services Center in collaboration with the Smith Student Affairs Association sponsored the event at Sodexo’s North American Headquarters located in Gaithersburg, MD. Twenty- three student participants from the UMCP’s, Robert H. Smith School of Business participated including students in Accounting, International Business, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship.

The students spent the day shadowing and speaking with managers, enjoying a networking lunch, participating in a panel discussion, touring the test kitchen and visiting the Sodexo Timeline Museum.

The event was well received by the students who participated, and it was a great chance for them to get some real world training from a global business located here in Montgomery County. The managers from Sodexo represented a variety of departments, allowing the students access too many areas of this diverse corporation. Personnel participating from Sodexo included: Kaung Myat, Manager Fraud Analytics, Mark Beasman, VP Corporate Strategy, Jack Guiragossian, Senior Manager of Finance, Rey Sully, Senior Project Manager, Kristine Martin, Supplier Diversity Manager, Marla Depaolis, Senior Manager Supply Management, and Karen Ehrlich, Assistant General Counsel. Each took groups of students to their offices or conference rooms and took time to share their valuable knowledge while fielding questions from the participants.

Julia Rader, Director of Career and Internship Services at USG, said it best when she described the event at Sodexo by saying, “I think this type of career exposure is so important for students and exemplifies how we can collaborate with area workforce to prepare talented students for future employment.”

View photos of the event here.