Three Students Win Pitch Competition

On Thursday, Oct. 18, eight School of Business students participated in the final round of the Perfect Pitch Competition, sponsored by ADP. The competition challenges students to deliver a 90-second “elevator pitch” on why they would be the best new hire for a company.

This year’s winners were Emily Risch ’20, Mercedees Boutee ’20, and Austin Sanfilippo ’19, who were awarded financial incentives from ADP’s sponsorship for their hard work and success.

The competition was held during Fisher’s chapter of the American Marketing Association’s Marketing Week events, and was part of Dr. Monica Hodis’ Personal Selling course. For a pitch to be effective, students must show how their personal values align with the company and provide examples of how they have demonstrated qualities that would make them the right fit for the company.

Students in both sections of the Personal Selling course delivered presentations to groups of judges from ADP, Paychex, TEKsystems, Butler/Till, and other area companies. The top scorers from each room of judges moved on to the final round, in which they presented their pitch to a larger group of judges from ADP.

Emily Risch ’20 said that participating in the competition was very beneficial.

“It’s so helpful with building networking skills, which everyone can always improve,” she said. “The majority of the workforce has to be interviewed for their jobs, and knowing how to sell yourself to the company you want to work for is such an asset for anyone in the job search process.”

The other finalists were Rebecca Brant ’20, Jessica Bono ’19, Alejandro Utset ’19, Nicolette Pecor ’20, and Dustin Tomaka ’20. Members of Fisher’s chapter of the American Marketing Association will participate in Perfect Pitch competitions when they travel to AMA’s international collegiate conference in New Orleans next spring.