Monday, Nov 7, 2011
Rider students had the opportunity to impress prospective employers on November 3 at the Fall Career Fair, sponsored by Career Services. Some 80 employers flocked to the Cavalla Room to meet students in search of full-time jobs, internships and co-ops.
by Sean Ramsden
“Experience.”
It’s that elusive concept that has dogged recently graduated job hunters for as long as anyone can remember. “Experience required,” say the job postings, but how to gain experience if you can’t find employment in the first place?
Rider students had the opportunity to get their collective foot in the door on Thursday, November 3, at the Fall Career Fair, sponsored by Career Services. Some 80 employers flocked to the Cavalla Room to meet students in search of full-time jobs, internships and co-ops, and they were definitely in a hiring mood.
“We’re seeing an increased emphasis on entry-level candidates from these companies,” explained Joyce Tyler, director of Career Services. “With the high rate of retirees we’re seeing, hiring new college grads is the most cost-effective way of replacing them in the work force. But the competition is fierce.”
Employers, such as PNC Bank, Merck, the Philadelphia Insurance Company, WithumSmith+Brown, the New Jersey State Police, and Mathematica Policy Research, just to name a few, met hundreds of Rider students, dressed to impress, in search of experience.
“College recruitment is very important to us right now,” said Zoya Goldenberg, a representative of cosmetics manufacturer Estée Lauder, of her purpose in being at the Career Fair. “We’re offering four full-time positions right now, but we also have a robust co-op and internship program. Ideally, we look for experience students would get from these co-ops and internships.”
At the Merck table, representatives Tom Pado and Jennifer Hartmann said they had spoken to a steady flow of students, and were eager to meet as many as possible.
“We like to branch out to universities and get to know a diverse group of candidates,” said Hartmann, who said the pharmaceuticals giant also had several full-time, entry-level opportunities to offer at its Whitehouse Station, N.J., branch. “This is a great chance to meet students, and it’s vital for us to see and attract the best brightest to drive the future of the business.”
Among the job hunters was Isaac Sagoe ’12, a Communication major with a minor in Graphic Design, who had just finished a promising conversation with Clover Communications of New Providence, N.J.
“I spoke with them about jobs working in multimedia and anything that contributes to advertising,” said Sagoe, a talented designer whose work was recently chosen to illustrate a set of posters celebrating the 50th anniversary of Rider’s School of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “I know Clover works with Verizon, Panasonic, McGraw-Hill and a lot of other clients, and that’s exciting, but there is some fierce competition at the moment.”
Others, like Ethan Grossman ’12, a Finance and Global Supply Chain Management major, took an even more focused approach to the Career Fair, arranging for a number of personal interviews later that day. Still, he got as much face time as he could with as many companies as he could manage during the regularly scheduled session.
“I take this opportunity very seriously, so I researched the companies I really wanted to speak with and tried to learn as much as I could about them,” said Grossman, who had scheduled interviews with Target and L’Oreal in addition to the normal Career Fair bustle. “You have to look at the big picture, that this is a chance to build relationships with these companies. You can also see what’s out there, and what you can do. That’s what it’s all about.”
