In an effort to showcase some of the job and internship opportunities available to seniors, Career Services will host the Employer Connections Fair today and tomorrow from 12 to 4 p.m. in the Alumni Hall and the Top of the Hop.
Monica Wilson, assistant director for employer relations at Career Services, described the fair as a "meet and greet" event that allows students to interact with employers in an informal setting.
While most students who attend are traditionally seniors, the fair is designed for students from all classes and even for graduate students, Wilson said. Additionally, she said it is important to recognize that different employers will be attending each day and that students should consider attending both days in order to take full advantage of the fair.
Although some students may view the fair as being geared mostly toward finance, consulting and other traditional corporate recruiting industries, Wilson stressed that this is not the case. This year's fair represents a number of fields including non-profits, marketing, government, law, restaurant management and fashion.
Not-for-profit organizations will be grouped together in a separate space at the fair, which Wilson attributed to the fact that "students who want to focus on that area are more comfortable seeing [the non-profits] in a room all together."
Wilson said, however, that some fields still remain underrepresented.
"I'd love to see sports-related organizations represented here. We had the NBA in previous years, but students wouldn't go over to the booth," she said. "We talked to ESPN last year and they were very close to coming, but elected not to."
ESPN's reluctance to attend underscores the difficulty of getting certain high-visibility companies to come to rural Hanover.
"Some big-name organizations are so popular that they don't need to attend events like this to get interest," Wilson said.
But for many firms, making the long trek to out-of-the-way Hanover remains well worth the effort. Skip Irving Tu'83, partner and managing director at Health Advances, a Weston, Mass. management and consulting firm that focuses on the health care product industry, said his firm comes to the fair because it is consistently pleased with the Dartmouth graduates it hires.
"I think one thing that differentiates Dartmouth students is that we find that they have a very pragmatic approach to solving problems. They work well with other people and have very strong interpersonal skills," Irving said.
Laura Sides '07, who said she is interested in web design but is not positive what she wants to do after graduation, plans on attending the fair so she can explore options besides web design.
"I want to know what else is out there if that doesn't work out," Sides said. "It's an informal event. It's not a resume collection event, and it's not intended to be intimidating. Many of the reps are alums who want to talk about what they do and why they enjoy it."
