In all honesty, what first attracted me to the “job offer” was a chance to do a good deed, to learn a bit about finance, and the wonderful promise of a trip to the Big Apple. Little did I realize how rich of a learning experience I would be receiving. Fortunately   I was able to place the winning bid in the silent auction benefiting the Dallas United Way and was in for the greatest and easiest promotion of my life, albeit shortlived.

This year’s CEO for a Day was a trip to New York City to attend the Barclay’s ROC Star conference on May 3 with Mark Rohr,Celanese’s chairman and chief executive officer. The conference is attended by investors from various firms to meet with leaders from top chemical companies to discuss the companies’ performance and plans for the future. The agenda for the conference included several  one-on-one meetings with the investors. During these meetings, they took the opportunity to ask Mark a variety of questions on all things Celanese related. The topics of their questions ranged from the impact of global macroeconomic conditions to specific questions such as earnings and prospective information. I also had the opportunity to listen to Mark’s keynote speech on his vision for Celanese. His speech furthered my understanding on how we position Celanese in various markets and how we plan on maximizing shareholder value in the future. But the learning didn’t stop there, I also attended a presentation by Dow Chemicals which gave me  more insight into Dow as well as  the chemical industry.

Although I was designated CEO for the day, fortunately for me, Mark was really the one answering all the questions. Listening to Mark’s responses gave me a great chance to learn more about Celanese and achieve a better understanding of the importance of soft skills. My learning throughout this event can also be attributed to the fact that I received significant guidance from Mark Rohr, Mark Oberle, senior vice president of corporate affairs and Jon Puckett, vice president of investor relations.

I would encourage everyone to actively seek out similar opportunities. I realize that a few paragraphs don’t do justice to the knowledge that I have gained. However, I do hope that I was able to communicate the value of this opportunity and the exposure that it presents. Last but not least, I would like to thank everyone who made this possible.