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Leadership and HR Business Arena 2015 took place in Dubrovnik from April 23-25, at the Dubrovnik President Hotel and it gathered schools, government representatives and experts in these fields. Schools were represented by deans and professors who shared their ideas and the current situation in leadership and human resources. CEOs and human resources experts shared their experiences from companies' perspectives.

The participants from RIT Croatia's IHSM program were: Ana Buhin, Marina Čaleta, Paulina Berisha, Vanesa Vlačić and Mirna Sorajić as part of Student Government, as well as Celine Michel, a study abroad student from La Rochelle Business School in France, who is a part of the Erasmus program, and IHSM professors Milena Kužnin, Kevin Walker and Besim Agušaj.

From the stand point of a student, this conference was very useful in terms of learning about the obstacles and challenges of working in the field of Human Resources. Since company representatives came from various industries, it was interesting to see that different branches have similar and different challenges. Several discussions focused on finding solutions for the unemployment rate of students, students' inability to find jobs in their fields and how to lead engaged and committed employees.

Participants agreed that government bodies should invest more effort in supporting innovation in different sectors. Moreover, some companies had practical examples of projects that will increase employees' engagement and create opportunities for students to find companies to work for in the future.

Apart from the official conference, there was a lot of unofficial business networking over coffee breaks, lunches and dinners where the actual, casual talks and connections were made.

"We as students were all really glad to be a part of the conference and to have the opportunity to be approached by some of the company's representatives, and to be recognized as potentially valuable additions to their teams. It was a nice touch for the end of the conference to realize that we are getting what it takes to succeed in our future business days" - says Mirna Sorajić, IHSM student.