Recruitment season was in full bloom Wednesday as students and recruiters thronged the Bryan Center for the annual Career Fair. In all, 76 companies participated this year, down from the 106 companies that attended last year.
William Wright-Swadel, Fannie Mitchell executive director of career services, said although official numbers for student participation will not be in until next week, student turnout was strong.
Representation from financial and consulting industries was particularly low, Wright-Swadel said, and students said they were more likely to consider careers with non-profit and governmental employers this year.
“Government is one industry that is still hiring,” said Caitlin Bevans, a Master of Management Studies student and Trinity ’09. “The trend is definitely moving toward [Washington,] D.C., as compared to a few years ago,” she said.
Bevans decided to seek employment with the State Department because of the stability, health benefits and international opportunities the government could offer her—with the only drawback that her pay would be less than a Wall Street salary.
Valerie Anderson, a “Genius Finder” for Microsoft, said she hopes students previously considering investment banking would seek similar roles at her company.
“Coming to the Career Fair allows us to have a conversation beyond the resume,” Anderson said. “It gives you the opportunity to set yourself apart.”
Craig Olman, director of recruitment for Abercrombie & Fitch Co., said although times are tough for luxury retailers like Abercrombie, Duke was still one of their top schools for recruiting.
“Abercrombie is still growing internationally—overseas we are more recession-proof,” Olman said.
Senior Liz Turner, an environmental science policy major, said she would not be attending the fair this year, because it did not have enough representation from more specialized fields.
“The Career Fair is really good for people who know what they want to do after Duke,” Turner said. “But it’s harder for people in more obscure fields, especially when the [majors] that dominate are [Economics], pre-med, pre-law, et cetera.”
Wright-Swadel said the Career Center is currently exploring ways to build relationships with more types of employers and hold a range of smaller career fairs throughout the year—like TechConnect, an event held Tuesday evening for students interested in engineering and technology firms.
Kirsten Shaw, assistant director of corporate and industry relations in the Pratt School of Engineering, said this was Pratt’s eighth year hosting TechConnect, in partnership with the Department of Computer Science and the Career Center, and noted that the number of participating companies has more than doubled since 2006.
Shaw said companies like Google, NASA and St. Jude Medical, which are looking to hire for very specific positions, would rather recruit at TechConnect than the more general Career Fair.
Albert Andreas, Pratt ’01, was representing Plexus Corp. in its first year attending TechConnect in lieu of the Career Fair.
“In the Bryan Center, we had a lot of knuckleheads come by and pick up freebies—it’s probably more efficient this way,” Andreas said. He added that although Plexus is not looking to hire this year, the company came to maintain its relationship with the University.
For those seeking careers in the public sector, Wright-Swadel said a Non-Profit & Government Fair is scheduled for Oct. 21, sponsored by the Duke Career Center, DukeEngage, Duke Center for International Development and Sanford School of Public Policy. As of Wednesday night, 46 companies were confirmed to attend, offering both paid and unpaid internship positions as well as full-time employment opportunities.
The Career Center is also considering hosting an arts fair to connect undergraduates with alumni in the arts field, Wright-Swadel said.
“That’s another domain where Duke students seem to possess a lot of ability and a lot of interest,” he said. “But by the time they come to graduation, those don’t seem like possibilities because [arts employers] don’t come here. That’s just not the way those kinds of groups recruit.”
Career Center representatives encouraged students to continue attending career fairs to make face-to-face connections with employers, regardless of industry.
“If a recruiter remembers a student from an info session or TechConnect or a career fair, it helps them get a job,” Shaw said. “Companies are here to build those relationships.”
Zachary Tracer contributed reporting.
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