Everyone seems anxious about the job market these days.
So it's no surprise that more than 150 students gathered at the Wharton Latino Undergraduate Career Conference at the Inn at Penn on Friday.
The fifth annual conference, sponsored by the Wharton Latino Undergraduate Association, aimed "to provide students with opportunities both within their career and the business world," said Wharton senior Karen Ramallo, the association's president.
Attendance was markedly higher than last year, when about 120 students came.
The association, geared toward providing a social and cultural forum for the Latino culture and finding career opportunities for graduates, is not limited to Latinos or Wharton students, according to organizers.
The group is donating all proceeds from Friday's conference -- over $1,500 -- to Univision, a Hispanic television station in the New York metropolitan area. Univision, in turn, will distribute the money among Hispanic families affected by the World Trade Center tragedy.
The conference was essentially a career fair, attended by representatives from 12 corporations from across the nation.
"We feel that it is important to interact and recruit qualified students, especially of diverse backgrounds," said Marcia Allyene, a recruiter from Credit Suisse First Boston. "I've met a lot of really talented people here today. I'm very pleased."
For $15, students got admission to the conference, lunch and space in a resume book, which was given to all company representatives. The undergraduates seemed to echo Allyene's sentiments.
"I just wanted to get a feel for what the job opportunities are out there for my field," said Susanna Ahn, a Wharton and Nursing junior, who was speaking to Capital One. "I didn't really know what the business aspect of my major was. This [conference] gives me a much better feel."
Engineering sophomore Albert Sara agreed.
"I think it's a good experience to get to talk to big business companies even if it's not your specific profession," he said.
The keynote speaker, Gerald A. McDermott, a Wharton management professor, spoke on the economic state of affairs in Latin America, particularly in Argentina. McDermott recently spent seven months in that country doing economic research and consulting.
Regarding the Argentinian crisis, McDermott said he remains optimistic.
"This is an experimental process, and its hopefully growing, we'd like to think," he said.
"He spoke well," said John Bonini, a Wharton sophomore. "It was a very thought-provoking speech."
