PREPARING GRADUATES FOR THE WORLD AS IT WILL BE.

HPU graduates spend four years amassing the life skills employers want in new hires

Leah Pieniadz, '17, remembers the moment she knew she was ready.

Career ready. Life ready. Opportunities welcome.

It happened inside Cottrell Hall, High Point University's hub for career and professional development, where employers from Big Four accounting firms lined up to meet students, schedule interviews and find future team members.

For months, Pieniadz worked with advisors from the Career and Professional Development team. She'd practiced interview questions and knew how to dress, shake hands and communicate the value of her skill sets. She'd built confidence through her coursework and the faculty who challenged her to grow.

KPMG, one of the nation's largest tax firms, noticed.

The company offered Pieniadz an interview, then an internship in Manhattan the summer after her junior year. She took it and made a positive impression, so much so that KPMG offered her full-time employment in the same Manhattan office when she graduated in 2017.

"Thinking back on my time at HPU, that'Meet the Firms' event was one of my most impactful moments," says Pieniadz, now an audit associate in New York. "I dreamed of having the opportunity to work for a Big Four accounting firm, and with the help of this event, I was able to talk with current employees who provided an honest perspective on their career.

"As it turned out, moving to Manhattan that summer was one of the best experiences of my life, and I was ready to move back after graduation to begin my career there."

96% EMPLOYMENT & GRAD SCHOOL PLACEMENT within six months of graduatior

Data from the Class of 2017. High Point University follows the National Association of Colleges and Employers first destination reporting protocols.

THE PREMIER LIFE SKILLS UNIVERSITY

Pieniadz is part of a compelling HPU statistic.

Ninety-six percent of graduates begin their careers or go on to graduate school within six months of completing their HPU education.

But her story is about more than a statistic. Like all graduates, she benefited from HPU's focus on life skills, a mission the entire campus shares.

Students begin to understand this early in their academic career when they learn from HPU President Nido Qubein, who teaches the President's Seminar on Life Skills for all freshmen.

Qubein is a product of the American dream. He came to the United States from the Middle East and built his business career from the ground up. He helped start a bank and became an internationally sought-after speaker and business consultant.

In his class, he focuses on what the world calls "soft skills," but what HPU calls life skills.

Acing a job interview over dinner, for example, is a crucial life skill when employers report that taking candidates to restaurants is one of the most revealing parts of the hiring process.

Financial literacy, team work, emotional...

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