On Monday, October 29th, the Office of Placement and Career Services held its semi-annual career fair, an evening during which students of all grades had the opportunity to collect information on the types of career opportunities available to them once they graduate.

Representatives from businesses in various areas of employment fielded questions from the hundreds of students from both Yeshiva and Stern who attended the event. Some students took this night as an opportunity to collect business cards in hopes of finding an internship, or in some cases, a full-time job.

Robert Lubin, Associate Director of OPCS, showed much optimism about this year's fair. In past years, the majority of students attending the event were from the Sy Syms School of Business. This uneven attendance of Yeshiva students can be attributed to the fact that many of the representatives present at the fair hail from business-oriented companies, focusing on finance, accounting or management.

Lubin has maintained that although the Placement Office is located on the fourth floor of Belfer Hall, an area normally associated with Syms, this year's fair and all future OPCS events will concentrate more on fields surrounding the sciences and humanities, noting that representatives from areas of social service, health care, and even some liberal arts graduate schools attended the event.

However, students did not share Lubin's sentiments. Many felt that, once again, the fair catered to a largely Sy Syms audience. Yeshiva College students were disappointed with the lack of opportunity in the various fields of humanities and sciences. Elchonon Dovid Zurndorfer, a Yeshiva College junior math major is hoping to become an actuary after his sojourn at Yeshiva. "Personally, as a math major, I was looking for actuarial firms and would have been pleased with the opportunity to speak with representatives from the field and inquire about any career possibilities," he said. He pointed out, however, that he was greeted with no such opporunity at the career fair. Even Brian Schlusselburg, an economics major with interests in the business world, admitted to the fact that the fair was largely dominated by business oriented companies.

In defense, Lubin mentioned that unfortunately, due to the events of September 11th, some industries that have sent representatives in past years did not have the manpower to send personnel to the career fair.

Nonetheless, he did guarantee that although these companies were not present at the event, the Placement Office will continue to keep strong contacts with them. "We have open channels with them for jobs and internships", assured Lubin. Furthermore, he indicated that recruiters still hold strong interest in the career fair and urged students to attend the event in the future. Lubin even mentioned the prospect of having a second fair in March. This may allow for companies that were not represented at last week's fair to find the needed staff to attend in the future.

In the week before the event, OPCS held workshops in order to optimize the affair. These seminars were geared towards informing students of the proper etiquette necessary to succeed at the career fair, such as attire, speech, presentation of resumes or even the process by which students should go about requesting a job or internship. Lubin mentioned that although he recommends that students be aggressive at the fair, it is important to "actively listen" as well. As he explained, this implied that students should aim to find any similarities between themselves and the representatives, a process that may aid in searching for a career.

Lubin did clarify the main purpose of the evening, though. While many students do search for job opportunities at the fair, the goal of the event is to help students find a career. "A career fair implies that you are there to look for a career," he said. This is specifically why we do not call it a 'job fair'". Lubin added that the event is used mainly as a discovery opportunity for students; to allow students the chance to find the proper career for themselves.

Yehuda Shmidman, co-president of the Israel club at Yeshiva, is currently in the process of trying to organize an Israel career fair as well. In past years, representatives from various industries, including Hebrew University and Bar Ilan, have been present at the career fair. "While most students are seeking job opportunities in America, it is important to inform them that there are many prospects in Israel as well," said Shmidman.

He further added that in order to educate students about the opportunities in Israel, the University has brought Ofer Ofin, a Shaliach Aliyah, to the school in order to notify students about the various fields of employment in Israel.

Despite the scattered complaints, most students at Yeshiva tried to take full advantage of what the career fair had to offer. Chaim Theil, a Syms junior, attended this year's fair, as well as last year's, with the hopes of having as much success as possible. Prior to the fair he did mention that he was interested to see how the event would be conducted in light of the recent tragedies. "With the recent economic downturn, I'll be curious as to which firms will show up," commented Theil.

Nonetheless, despite this latter concern, he was satisfied at the vast amount of opportunity available for him at the session. "I was able to give my resume to some of the companies present and was provided with a greater understanding of the business world," he remarked.