Leading the pack?

As seniors embark on their job hunting endeavors, many aspiring investment bankers and management consultants have encountered obstacles while using the Career Development Center's new online recruiting system. Although designed to alleviate the tension inherent in this traditionally nerve-wracking rite of passage, the system's inefficiency and complexity has been roundly lambasted by student users.

Through a process instituted this year, students participating in on-campus recruiting submit resumes, cover letters and transcripts online; companies then use the system to review materials over the Internet and select whom to interview. The lucky applicants later use the online process to schedule their interviews.

But even those students who may emerge victorious from the employment game argue that the online medium hinders their chances from the outset.

"The system hurts the candidacy of Duke students because the resumes all look the same and it is very difficult for students to differentiate themselves," Trinity senior Todd Sears said. "If I do get a job, it will be in spite of the CDC's new system, not because of it."

But Interim Director of the CDC Larry Maskel maintained that the center is making every attempt to manage procedural difficulties and ensure a smooth transition. "For employers and students who are computer savvy, the system is very simple to learn," he said. "For those who aren't, the CDC has programs in place to help."

Such programs include personalized small-group training sessions that focus on on-campus recruiting, with topics ranging from interviewing techniques to training about the online system. The center has also developed several career-specific mailing lists that inform students about recruiting updates and information sessions.

Despite the CDC's support of the online recruiting system, however, recruiters at the Career Fair last week offered mixed reviews of the new procedures. Representatives from Goldman Sachs, First Chicago NBD and Johnson & Johnson all said they have experienced difficulty in adjusting to the new system.

"One of the biggest problems that we've had is with the resumes. Because student materials are all on-line, the formatting is completely off and the resumes are very difficult to read," explained J.P. Morgan recruiter Rebecca Stults. "We try not to let the flaws of this system hurt Duke students in any way, but the CDC should really remedy the situation to make recruiting more of a level playing field."

"I don't see any disadvantages to the system except that there's a learning curve for employers and students, which is what we're working through right now," Maskel said. "We're pioneering and breaking new ground-schools across the country are looking to Duke as a model for on-campus recruiting. I predict that within three to five years, there will be few universities that don't replicate this system."

Jobtrack Vice President David Franey also touted the benefits of the new procedures, although he acknowledged a necessary adjustment period for students and employers to acclimate to the online process.

"This is the beginning of a system that will really be awesome for both students and companies," Franey said.

In the meantime, however, students continue to voice considerable concern with the system, ranging from their personal difficulties in submitting materials to the issue of Internet confidentiality.

"I am impressed by the potential of the system, but I don't fully trust it," said Trinity senior Rishad Ahluwahlia. "Students from other schools who submit hard-copy materials may have a better chance of being hired simply because their resumes look better."