Making an elevator pitch takes student to the top


Susan Eckman, a finance and accountancy junior in the ASU W. P. Carey School of Business, reached the top by winning the $5,000 grand prize in the PricewaterhouseCoopers Personal Branding Week Elevator Pitch Video Contest.  Selected from nearly 200 submissions, her entry to sell her professional image secured the close. 

Votes took her to the top 10, and, based on creativity, technical merit and content originality, a panel of PwC representatives and an external personal brand expert selected her as the winner. More details are available in a State Press article at www.statepress.com/2011/04/21/asu-student-wins-self-pitch-contest/.

Eckman is a winner in other areas as well.  She was recently named as one of 10 McCord Scholars for 2011-12, and as a Larry Seay and Barb Walchli Scholarship recipient.  This academic year she defended her honors thesis, "Fleischer Scholars Program: Providing Access to Higher Education" in which she designed and coordinated the inaugural business summer program for economically disadvantaged high school juniors. She took the program a level higher by establishing a partnership with PwC in which the company supports the program by hosting a business site visit.  Through panel events and targeted activities, participants become exposed to professionalism in the workplace, career opportunities with a large firm, what recruiters and interviewers seek, and the like.

This summer she will intern with the Asset Management Group in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ New York Assurance Practice. Her professional goals include earning her CPA and CFA, working abroad, and serving on the board of a non-profit organization.