Somerset Logistics Partners with Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU)
At Somerset people are our most valuable asset. Somerset Logistics is and always has tried to
look for the best people available. We
have been focused on finding and developing the best sales talent in the
industry and training them in the business of transportation logistics. One of our most successful recruiting areas
has come from our local university, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). We currently advertise our opportunities on
MTSU’s Career Development Center Lightning JobSource and have been successful
hiring MTSU individuals throughout the years.
We prefer to hire MTSU undergraduates for our part-time
sales positions and provide them an opportunity for full-time employment. Currently, Somerset has (21) MTSU
undergraduates or graduates on staff to include the President and Executive
Vice President. We will continue to
increase our number of MTSU undergraduates and graduates by offering a superb
learning environment for students as well as opportunities for permanent or
full time jobs. Recently, Somerset
further solidified our relationship with MTSU by partnering with MTSU’s Business
Department Internship Program. Somerset
has over the years provided interns as well as recent graduates a training
environment to enhance more than their learned technical skills and develop untapped
“soft learning skills”. These skills can
only be really learned in a hands-on sales environment. In a recent article published in the
Murfreesboro Daily News Journal, David J. Urban, Dean of the Jennings A. Jones
College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University, highlighted several
initiatives and discussed the need to also incorporate “soft learning” into the
MTSU business curriculum. Dean Urban stated
leading business also wanted more from students and graduates than just
technical knowledge.
“What
these business, government and community leaders almost universally say is that
today's business graduates need more than technical knowledge. They require a
wide array of parallel abilities, often referred to as "soft skills,"
to complement their technical competencies.
Examples
of these soft skills include the ability to write and speak effectively, to
think through a problem to a solution, to work in teams, to build and maintain
personal relationships, to practice the art and science of effective networking
and to maintain a positive attitude toward life and work. These leaders have
also emphasized the critical importance of polished social skills and
etiquette.
Another
conclusion I have drawn is especially noteworthy in this era of emails, text
messages, tweets and blog posts. It is also frequently mentioned by the leaders
I have interviewed.
As
efficient as electronic communication is, there is simply no substitute for
face-to-face interaction. Even in the 21st century, business is still about
people.
A
person might have the manual dexterity to transmit text via a smartphone within
a few seconds to anyone on the planet. But if that person expects to be
successful in business, success is all about relationships with customers,
clients and colleagues. It has always been that way and will continue to be
that way. So our business graduates had better be able to humanize their
dealings with others and move beyond superficial connections.”
Somerset readily agrees with Dean Urban and has previously
written about the need to be the total professional, about teamwork, how to
communicate effectively, how to deal effectively with others and how important
it is in sales to build trust while providing the best customer service
possible. To excel in today’s business environment
an individual has to have a good base of technical knowledge and a superior
understanding of the “soft skills”. MTSU
and other schools do a great job of teaching the technical skills. At Somerset we strive to add to those skills
by providing a training program which incorporates those technical skills while
highlighting an environment to learn the important “soft learning skills” which
can only be gained in a hands-on sales environment.
Somerset will continue to hire MTSU students and graduates
and actively participate in MTSU’s internship program. We will continue to look to MTSU as well as
other institutions as we search for the best talent available. We take our responsibility to train all our
employees seriously and strive to set them up for success in business and in
life. Even if our interns or part-time student
employees don’t choose the transportation industry as a profession we feel we
have allowed those individuals to have a better understanding of the critical “soft
skills” required to succeed in today’s environment.
Somerset has experienced extensive growth by providing
opportunities to decisive, result oriented self-starters who want to work in a
sales environment. If you are one of
these people and want an opportunity to enhance your technical skills and
develop the “soft skills” to compete in today’s business environment please
call one of our professionals. We
welcome the opportunity to talk to you and hopefully you might be able to
become a part of our Team of "Excellent Freight Brokers and Independent
Freight Agents." Contact Somerset Logistics at www.somersetlogistics.com
if you have questions or want to talk to one of our transportation
professionals.
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