Students Tell CEOs Why to Hire Them

By: James Breiner | 12/31/2012

Global Business Journalism student Xiao Dan of China makes the case for why Pixar should hire her. This was a practice exercise for the class.

Global Business Journalism student Xiao Dan of China makes the case for why Pixar should hire her. This was a practice exercise for the class.

The mock exercise was part of the Global Business Journalism Program at Tsinghua University. It required each of the 43 students to pick a publicly traded company doing business in China, research it in depth and then make a case in four minutes for why the company should hire him or her.

The professors and the rest of the class played the role of skeptical corporate executives.

The presentations require students to explore the company's strategy, strengths and weaknesses and use that as a basis to explain where they personally would fit in. Miller says he wants to get students thinking about the next step in their careers and to see from their fellow students what the competition might be like.

The students made presentations on companies such as Nike, Siemens, Reuters, Volkswagen and The New York Times. Some of them boldly described the companies' weaknesses and how they personally might contribute to turning the situation around.

This is the second year Miller has done this exercise, and students rose to the occasion with some impressive sales pitches.

Latest News

How to Deal with Mis- and Disinformation in Times of Uncertainty

There is evidence that disinformation is designed to take advantage of our emotions. It also tends to spread farther and more rapidly during times of change and uncertainty. When people have questions and there are gaps in information, the disinformers (those who profit from lies), take advantage, “magically” putting forth what appear often to be simple answers or solutions. Here are some tips to protect yourself from falling for or sharing false or alarmist content as the U.S. transitions into a second Donald Trump presidency.

Insights into Journalism and Advice for Student Reporters Heading into 2025, from ICFJ Knight Fellows

As we kickstart 2025, we asked our ICFJ Knight Fellows about their outlooks for the new year, and what challenges and/or opportunities they’re preparing to face head on. The Fellows also provided their topline advice for student and early-career journalists to succeed in today’s news industry.

ICFJ Announces Its Inaugural Cohort of Boost Reporting Fellows

Journalists from Gambia, Bangladesh and Ecuador will pursue reporting on climate-related issues with support from ICFJ’s Boost Reporting Grants.