ND's first science job fair Tuesday
By HILARY BURN
News Writer
The Career Center and College of Science will hold their first Science Career Fair Tuesday in the Joyce Center Heritage Hall.
For the last year, Erin Majder, a Notre Dame senior science-business major and the student chair/coordinator of the Science Career Fair, has been helping the Career Center plan the event.
Of the 250 or so companies that were invited in the fall, 35 companies from across the United States will be participating in the fair and 12 will have resume/cover letter drops.
Companies will represent various types of jobs and internships of many disciplines. Unlike previous career fairs, however, the companies attending are particularly interested in people with a science background.
"I have attended most of the other career fairs at one time or another in my time here at ND, and my experience has been that it is very difficult for a science major to get a job at one of those fairs," said Majder. "There have not been many opportunities for science majors at the other job fairs on campus. The reps look at you and say, `we are only looking for [blank] majors, not science majors. You don't have any experience in this field.' This was very frustrating. I wanted to be able to go to a job fair and have people be interested in me, and I am sure other students feel the same way. This was what gave us the idea to have the Science Career Fair."
Professors in the science department were told to inform their classes of the event and to encourage attendance in order to explore all of their options and begin networking, even if they already have summer or post-graduation plans.
"Science majors put too much pressure on themselves because they don't see all the options open to them beyond medical school, graduate school and lab work," said Paul Huber, a Notre Dame professor and undergraduate advisor for biochemistry.
"Science journalism and science public policy are two examples. I had a student who did not have the grades for medical school, but she took a great science public policy internship in Washington instead," said Huber.
Many of the companies and organizations attending the fair are well-known nationally or internationally. These include General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and the CIA.
"It's a fine line [getting the companies to come] because Notre Dame is a little smaller than some other schools," said Kopec. "So, it is a wonderful tribute to the outstanding science students here at Notre Dame that so many top-notch companies from various industries are participating in our first fair."
GE, for example, only focuses its recruiting activities at 36 key schools and Notre Dame is one of them, according to Steve Canale of GE's Manager, Recruiting and Staffing Services.
"ND has an excellent reputation for producing students with strong technical, and professional skills," said Marc Garbiras, a 1998 Notre Dame alum and computer scientist for General Electric's Corporate Research and Development department. "We find the academic curriculum at the university to be extremely strong and well aligned with the skills and qualifications we are looking for in our employees. The same fundamental principles of integrity, commitment to quality and excellence, and community spirit that the university strives for from its students, are the same as our own GE Values."
Garbiras is just one of the Notre Dame alumni that will be returning to their alma maters for a recruiting trip. Garrett Moraski, a 1997 Notre Dame alumnus and laboratory assistant scientist for the Pfizer Global Research Division, is another. According to him, Pfizer chooses to recruit at Notre Dame because its current assistants from Notre Dame are doing well, showing it is an attractive place to hire.
GE and Pfizer are not alone in choosing to recruit directly at universities because employers like them value the skills and enthusiasm of new grads.
"The recruitment of good candidates in job markets is difficult today. By recruiting and hiring university undergraduates, we have the opportunity to develop them into the future management leaders of tomorrow within our company," said Lisa Huston, a sales recruiting manager for Johnson & Johnson.
New grads also offer other advantages for companies involved with science and technology.
"They are aligned with the current technologies, and in many cases have knowledge and experience with applications that have not yet made it, or are just making it, into mainstream corporate America," said Garbiras.
"College graduates are apt to learn new skills and generally have a shorter learning curve than people who have been away from academia for a while. They also have a strong work ethic, and the enthusiasm and energy of recent graduates is unmatched," said Garbiras.
Companies at the career fair will be looking for candidates for summer internships, not just full-time positions. Even though some companies, like Johnson & Johnson, are not directly looking for interns, they will accept resumes on Tuesday for internship consideration. Other companies attending have structured internship programs and are specifically targeting undergraduates.
"Our internship programs are designed to support the development needs of university undergrads and it is our hope that undergrads who participate in internship programs will be interested in being considered for full-time opportunities upon graduation," said Carrie Eglinton Manner, a 1996 Notre Dame alumna and Sales Quality Leader for GE Medical Systems.
Students from all colleges, majors and years are invited to participate in the fair.
"It is our hope that many students will take advantage of this unique opportunity and attend the fair with their resume in hand," said Kopec. "Hopefully with a good turnout the fair will be even bigger next year."
Twelve of the companies attending Tuesday's event will also be staying for Wednesday's Arts and Letters Career Fair.
All News Stories for Monday, March 26, 2001
