By Alysa TeichmanThe Daily Northwestern
On any given day during Fall Quarter, students donning officewear and carrying resume-filled folders scurry around campus in an annual ritual: the senior job hunt.
Although companies hold recruitment presentations throughout the year, the sessions kick into high gear during Fall Quarter. For seniors during this busy time, a good resume is a golden ticket to a sought-after position after graduation.
This process leaves many seniors jittery – from students with job offers to those still interviewing. Some people compare the post-college job search with applying to college: Students who have not yet gotten jobs are reluctant to talk about the places they interview; students who have jobs worry that their jobless peers will think they are gloating.
The tension arises as entry-level jobs in the popular fields of finance and consulting become more difficult to land, and students must deal with an increasingly competitive recruitment process. Securing an internship before senior year can be the key to getting a leg up on the competition.
“The (summer) internship is an interview,” said Geoffrey Tresley, who had an internship with Lehman Brothers last summer. “Now it is becoming increasingly important because the banks don’t want to hire people they don’t know.”
For Tresley, a Weinberg senior, the hunt to secure an entry-level position in investment banking is over. He traveled to New York City last weekend to choose between his offers, basing his decision on the group of future peers he feels he would best cooperate with.
The competitive job-hunting process has led students and employers to place more importance on summer internships, and companies increasingly hire from their pool of summer interns.
During the summer internship, which typically lasts about 10 weeks, students get “interviewed,” said Tresley. Many companies conduct “quantitative and analytical reviews” of their interns during the middle and end of the summer, he said. Employers also emphasize interns’ people skills.
In addition to the outright competition between students to secure financial and consulting jobs after college, there is also competition among employers to attract the best students in the country to their companies. Many try to woo students who already have several offers by offering perks like free dinners and subsidized travel.
“Employers are competing with each other to do as much as they can to connect with students,” said Lonnie Dunlap, the director of University Career Services. “They will wine and dine students, especially in job fields where the industry is growing.”
Jenny Kim, a Communication senior, has already accepted a job at Monitor Group, a consulting firm, after she interned there. She now helps with the company’s recruiting events.
“I have been trying to help my friends prepare for interviews and explain to them what my internship at Monitor Group was like,” Kim said.
And for seniors struggling to find direction for their post-college life, a little insight or grain of wisdom from a peer like Kim, who is a step ahead of the game, may prove to be the most valuable and therapeutic.
Reach Alysa Teichman at [email protected].
