Organizations recruit graduating seniors

After three years at Middlebury College, in some cases more, all students must face the nagging question of what comes next. The Career Services Office (CSO) strives to give students tangible tools to transition from Middlebury into their chosen career fields. With a surprising number of students bustling around campus in business casual wear, the lengthy list of information sessions, recruiter-in-residence hours and interviews at Middlebury, on-campus recruiting easily becomes the most visible part of the CSO’s programming. However, Don Kjelleren, director of career services, cautions students that recruiting is just one piece of the puzzle.

“The counseling program is really the franchise at the core of the Career Services Office because most students are going to get their jobs through networking family friends, faculty, and alumni,” said Kjelleren. “Recruiting is going to help those students in the industries that it represents.”

Traditionally, Teach For America, Middlebury College, the banks, large law firms and private teaching opportunities that go through Carney, Sandoe & Associates are amongst the most successful recruiters at Middlebury, but it is way too early to know who will be most successful this year.
The firms that come to campus are in the unique position of knowing what their staffing needs will be a year in advance and firms that have entry-level training programs. These opportunities are atypical. Most other firms do just-in-time hiring for positions that need to be filled in one to three months. Kjelleren stresses the power of networking the hidden job market because that’s where 60 to 70 percent of the jobs are.

“Most students will have to go find their opportunities. There won’t be this formal recruiting,” said Kjelleren. “I don’t want students with different interests to be disenfranchised saying, ‘I didn’t see something for me there.’ The world doesn’t behave in a recruiting model.”

Additionally, Kjelleren reminds students that each industry recruits during a particular season. Right now, we are in the finance and education season. CSO, recruiters and alumni all advise that conducting an effective job search is all about figuring out what your passions are, finding a fit for yourself and “putting your Middlebury story together in a way that’s a presentation,” as Kjelleren put it.

Even if  a student’s dream job is not listed on MOJO, CSO’s online link to most of their offerings, there are a lot of different types of opportunities coming through campus to help students figure out what they want to do and how to get there. Many of the recruiters coming to campus will give out career advice even to students who are not applying to their firms in particular.  Rommin Adl ’87, vice president of BTS USA Inc, said Middlebury is a really strong recruiting school for his firm.  Middlebury students stand out to BTS because “all of the students are really smart and well-rounded.  You sit down with them and they’re all very interesting.  We always have great conversations,” Adl said.

However even at a strong-yield school like Middlebury, Adl stressed the import of the first impression.

“[Students should] come to their interviews highly prepared.  It is incredibly competitive out there,” said Adl. “There are few jobs going around so there is a high likelihood that even if you look great on paper and you’re great in reality, somebody who may not be quite as qualified, but who’s a lot hungrier and does their homework will get the job over you, so always be prepared. Don’t take anything for granted.”

Adl also spoke of the additional ramp up that can be necessary to transition from a liberal arts background to a specific job, suggesting programs such as the Tuck Business Bridge Program, which provides students with a bridge from the classroom to life through an intensive four-week summer institute with graduate school professors.

“Midd was an initial key school when the Tuck Bridge program started. We went out to certain schools and firms and Midd was a great fit,” said Paul Doscher, marketing coordinator for the Tuck Business Bridge Program.

Since the summer of 1997, the College has been the second largest feeder school to Tuck Bridge only after Dartmouth. Middlebury has been an essential source of Bridge students for the last 15 years and Middlebury-Tuck grads come back and recruit.

“There’s a perpetuation,” said Doscher.

Just as much as a special program, attending an info session can help to broaden your perspective on the industry that you’re interested in. In a recent info session, Poppy Cummings of Educator’s Ally, a counseling and placement service for teachers and administrators in independent schools, suggested that students need to know what they’re getting into when they decide to teach in high-need schools through Teach For America and other fellowships.

“Go and listen and talk to them and see what you think,” she said, adding “I would just want you to keep your eyes open.”

Her coworker Linn Jackson seconded that advice, saying, “If you want to give back and teach in a school with high needs we would love to see you really master your craft first” in a setting that is perhaps more supportive.

The options and the challenge of balancing a job-search with classes and current commitments can be overwhelming, but students say that the on-campus recruiting and counseling services at Middlebury are beneficial. It is hard to know what a position will be like until you’re on the job, but as Dariel Bennett ’11 said, “It’s really helpful to have a group of people to give us specific insights on how to break into their fields.”

Peter Le ’12 echoed Bennett’s reaction to the Tenth Annual Super Saturday Careers in Finance panel, where parents and alums answered questions about their experience in the industry, calling the event “extremely exciting because parents are truly open about their experience.”

Additionally Super Saturday panelists reminded students to use any and all connections that they might have, to rediscover the phone as a main means of communication and to follow their passions.

Good luck seniors and super senior Febs!