Career Services Help Students Secure Positions

By Elizabeth Macanufo 

May 2010

During the fall of 2008, career services offices across the United States realized something was amiss. The typically robust recruiting season slowed significantly on the heels of Lehman Brothers collapsing. Just the beginning of a challenging economic period, The Consortium member schools galvanized their resources to ensure that their students still secured employment opportunities.

"The financial services were the tip of the spear," remembers Michael Payne, manager of career services and employer relations at University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business. "We didn't know how bad it would get."

Rather than ride out the storm, career services professionals used the retracting financial conditions to reassess their programs. Director of graduate career services at Indiana University - Bloomington's Kelley School of Business Erik Medina researched how his office handled the most recent recession. Determining the strategies that worked best after the tech bubble burst in 2001, his office formulated a three-part plan. The Kelley School career services office increased their staff, created key partnerships and technological resources and created new relationships with potential employers. "We needed to help our students get their foot in a door where they could have a viable shot at a job."

Building relationship with internal and external constituent groups proved key to helping students find employment. Medina successfully collaborated with Dean Daniel Smith and Phil Powell, chair of the MBA program. He says "both participants were vested in providing us with the resources to accomplish what we needed to do in order to help our students find employment."

Keosha Moon, former career services director of marketing, planning, and operations at Emory University's Goizueta Business School instituted a collaborative approach within the school's community. "The relationships we had with our alumni were invaluable," she states. Moon and her colleagues personally connected students with alumni to beneficially leverage the association. "Working with alumni proved critical when budgets were constrained and companies had to make hard decisions."

Engaging students on a one-on-one basis led to placements for students at Consortium member schools. At Indiana University, each student received individual assistance in planning their career trajectory.  Describes Medina, "our staff met one-on-one with students to help them through the turbulent economy." Moon's staff also implemented a personalized approach to the job search process. Knowing each student's goals allowed the career services representatives to easily identify potential connections and opportunities.

The enhanced efforts of the career services departments proved successful, particularly for Consortium students. At USC, Consortium students prepare for their job search the spring prior to entering business school by getting organized for the Annual Orientation Program & Career Forum (OP). "We get the students ready to take advantage of OP where they'll meet companies committed to diversity hiring."