Alum's company helps students in job search

Wharton alumnus Arjun Kochhar had trouble finding a job when he graduated, and now he is trying to make the internship and job search easier for University students. Kochhar, founder of the Wall Street Placement Company, spoke before approximately 100 people last night in Vance Hall. The Placement Company, which is run out of Manhattan and also has a Philadelphia office, is aimed exclusively at University students looking for jobs and summer internships. Kochhar, who graduated from the University last year, explained that the difficulty he faced while applying for jobs provided the impetus to start the company. "When I was looking for a job two years ago, I found CPPS wasn't really working for me," he said. Students send a cover letter to the Placement Company, which then fills in information for companies in a specific area of business. He said the Placement Company provides a favorable alternative for students applying for summer internships or jobs by themselves. "You can either send out resumes yourself, or you can have us do it better, faster and cheaper," he said. Kochhar said the Placement Company has a "comprehensive database" in 11 fields of business, including investment banking, marketing and accounting. "We do a mail merge of our databases and your cover letter," he said. The Placement Company then sends completed letters targeted for specific companies to the students. Students must then attach their resumes to the letters. Also included in the package is a list of companies to whom the resume and cover letter should be sent. The Placement Company charges one dollar for each cover letter if the student requests between 50 and 200 cover letters. For students who request less than 50 cover letters, the charge is 80 cents each, and those who request more than 200 are charged $1.20 per cover letter. Kochhar said that after the presentation, 45 students signed up for individual meetings. Students in attendance seemed optimistic that the Placement Company could ease the application process for them. Wharton junior Adam Ferrin said that although he is "a little skeptical" about the company, he thinks it might help him. "I think at the very least they'll do a lot of the dirty work," Ferrin said. Wharton freshman Lainie Spierer said she hopes the Placement Company will help her because she needs an internship. "The resources they have are much more than I could acquire on my own," Spierer said. Wharton freshman Javed Siddique praised the Placement Company. "They're doing the main part of the job," he said. "And the main part of the job is finding the companies."

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