Professional Pursuit

OPCS Stages Career Fair to Mixed Reviews

On October 26^th, 1998, the Office of Placement and Career Services staged its hallmark Career Fair. From anxious seniors to curious freshman, hundreds of Yeshiva University and Stern College students crowded into two floors of Belfer Hall for the function.

After entering and registering, students were given a pamphlet entitled "Career Fair Pointers." The principal section of the handout listed the firms represented at the fair. Over one hundred companies, organizations, and graduate schools sent representatives to the career fair. These representatives were eager to answer various questions regarding job opportunities and criteria considered in hiring decisions.

Unlike other OPCS events, which are targeted specifically for Sy Syms students, the Career Fair was intended to afford students of all majors the opportunity to explore professional options. It was unclear whether the function had fulfilled this objective. Many YC students told The Commentator that they were dissatisfied with the fair. In the words of one YC senior, "There were no quality options for me at the fair. A hodgepodge of small time concerns that would be lucky to land community college grads showed up, but this hardly qualifies as a legitimate effort to find me gainful employment. There were no consulting firms worth their salt at the fair. I guess I'm back to The Times Employment Section. Thanks for nothing." Another YC student remarked, "It's clear that liberal arts majors are at best an afterthought for the Placement Office. They should rename themselves the Placement Office for Students with Business Majors. Why is [Dean Ira] Jaskoll, an obvious partisan who speaks openly against the College, running placement for all undergrads?"

For Yeshiva University students with an interest in business though, opportunities were plentiful. Besides the many accounting and finance firms present at all OPCS events, students with marketing or management information system interest also were shown many career ideas. Steven Farkas and Harrison Nadel, two Yeshiva graduates, are employees of University Sports. This company sells advertisements for team yearbooks and is a great opportunity for someone with salesman skills as well as interest in sports marketing.

Hillel Axelrod, another Yeshiva alumnus, presented at the Career Fair. Axelrod is the Director of Recruiting Services for The Wayne Group, Ltd. His job is to find individuals with abilities in information technology services and place them at financial institutions that need their services. Management Information System students desiring an easier route for employment might try the Wayne Group. Their clients include Deloitte & Touche, J.P. Morgan, and Price Waterhouse Coopers. Hillel Axelrod felt MIS students should take advantage of the "relationships developed with financial institutions by the Wayne Group," to better their chances for lateral job shifts.

Another organization involved in information technology at the career fair was Keane, Inc. Their representative, Tasha Przbyszewski, said Keane is a company that assists Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and healthcare institutions in their quest for technical support and advance. Keane does not limit recruitment to MIS majors. The company begins with a training program in technical maintenance.

Some options were clearly intended to appeal to students in the College. For students with an interest in social services, Paul Jimenez of YAI, the National Institute for People with Disabilities, was there for advice. YAI, he said, has many opportunities for internships as well as full time positions. While not fully necessary, Mr. Jimenez stressed the benefit of experience assisting mentally retarded individuals and a psychology or sociology background.

Ohel Children's Home and Family Services is seen as another great opportunity for students interested in social service involvement. Its representative, Elise Levy, stressed that students with any background can find either full time or part time work at Ohel. With facilities in Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, as well as training on the job, students can easily be placed in counselor positions.

Representatives from the NYC Board of Education greeted students with an interest in education. Alan Weinstein implored Yeshiva University students to consider the teaching profession, as there exists a tremendous demand for teachers, particularly in the fields of math and science. Mr. Weinstein stated that a YU student with only eighteen credits of a science could teach high school science in NYC public schools. The need for teachers, he said, is so great that the NYC Board of Education has had to go to Australia and other foreign countries to secure instructors.

Many other positions and fields were also represented at the career fair. Despite the complaints of YC students, many others found the Career Fair to be valuable. Even an anonymous Sy Syms student who "came just for the free stuff" saw the night as a productive one.