Twenty-five percent more students participated in this month's resume drop compared to the corresponding round last year, according to Monica Wilson, the associate director of employer relations at Career Services. Wilson credited the "surprisingly large increase" in applications to the national economic recovery and increasing optimism present in the job market.
"I think that more students applied [than last year] because they saw more opportunities and responded accordingly," she said.
A total of 528 students submitted 4,266 resumes by the Jan. 12 deadline, Wilson said.
Employers may have increased the number of available internships to evaluate prospective employees for when the economy fully recovers, Wilson said.
"I think people have a sense that the recovery is moving along and that the job market will be more stable," she said. "Companies are looking at hiring more interns now because in a year or two, they will be available to work full time."
Students searching for internships took notice of the increase in the total number and variety of open positions, students interviewed by The Dartmouth said.
"I think it had something to do with the rebound of the economy," Catherine Suarez '11, a student who participated in the resume drop, said. "[Businesses] are looking to refill a lot of positions that they lost during the downturn."
Although Suarez only applied to six positions when she participated in resume drop last summer, she was interested in over 30 positions in this round of resume drop, she said.
There were 95 available positions for Dartmouth students, according to Wilson. The number of companies participating in the resume drop was not available at press time.
Students were able to choose from a wider selection of job and internship opportunities than was available last year, Wilson said.
"The opportunities included law, education, health care consulting, marketing, operations management and communications, among others," she said.
Career Services reviewed students' resumes and cover letters and offered tutorials and workshops throughout the process to help prepare students for the corporate recruiting process, Wilson said.
This year, Career Services e-mailed students who had registered through the Dartboard system to alert them about upcoming deadlines and opportunities, she said.
"We used Dartboard last winter, but had more students registered in the system this year," Wilson said.
The profiles that students set up through Dartboard indicate geographic and career preferences and interests, which allows Career Services to send targeted e-mails as appropriate, Wilson said.
