Career Fair provides exposure for students and companies

Around 1,400 Penn undergraduates crowded into the ground floor of the University City Sheraton Hotel on Friday for the second annual University-wide career fair, sponsored by Career Services. The informal fair, designed for students interested in business-related fields, attracted more than 120 firms specializing in areas including consulting, financial services, retail and consumer products. Brand-name companies like investment bank Goldman, Sachs & Co. and consulting firm Andersen Consulting shared the floor with many lesser-known entities such as industrial supplier McMaster-Carr Supply Co. Inc. Chris Harper, manager of McMaster-Carr warehouse operations, saw the career fair as a two-fold opportunity for both recruitment and advertisement. "Not a lot of people know about us," he said. "It's a combination of recruiting and getting our name out there." Joe Pinto, a recruiting representative from General Mills, said that the career fair was not designed for in-depth meetings with students. "[The fair] is an opportunity to provide information so students can get exposure to General Mills in a quick, condensed fashion," he said. Still, some students had a more realistic perspective. "They're just dealing with a lot of people trying to hand their resumes out and trying to schmooze," said College senior Charity Fox. Although many of the companies present sought to fill permanent positions for next year, others were also looking for students to participate in summer internships. And firms present at the business forum were not just after undergraduates in the Wharton School. "We don't look at one college within the University," said one representative from management consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers. A representative from Prudential expressed similar views. "We have so many opportunities," she said. "We are looking for good people in general. We have plenty of jobs for them." Still, some College seniors said it was difficult to find investment banking and consulting opportunities without a Wharton pedigree. "It's harder [to secure financial jobs] if you are in the College," said College senior and Economics major Shayan Habib. Habib also said that the career fair would have been more helpful to seniors if it had been held before the On-Campus Recruiting Services resume drop, which began Sept. 11. Associate Director of Career Services Barbara Hewitt noted that the career fair was held a week earlier than last year. "It's hard to move [the fair] up too much further because then students are not prepared," Hewitt said, citing the importance of students researching business fields with which they have interest. Many Penn alums enjoyed returning to their alma mater as representatives from their current employer organizations. "We're not sizing people up now," said Rachael Elworth, a 1999 College graduate who works for Prudential. "It's fun for me to come back. I see lots of familiar faces." Daily Pennsylvanian staff writer Elisabeth Anderson contributed to this article.