Volume 67, Issue 4  

Mixed Opinions About Career Fair

by Shamir Seidman

Monday, October 28th – The Wilf Campus witnessed scores of well-dressed students flocking to Belfer Hall, and they weren’t responding to free food advertisements. The drawing card, instead, were companies the likes of JP Morgan Chase and Price Waterhouse Coopers, who had come to Yeshiva’s annual career fair at the behest of the Office of Placement and Career Services (OPCS).

The participating companies were seeking students for summer internship and, in some cases, even future employment.  Sprinkled among the various corporations, were a number of graduate schools and yeshivot, including representatives from Columbia University’s graduate schools and Chovevei Torah.  To create a business-like milieu and make a lasting first impression, students were asked to don business attire.  

The fair, which was open to all Sy Syms School for Business (SSSB) and Yeshiva College (YC) majors, seemed to have been a success, judging by the turnout.  But many students felt that the fair was heavily one-sided, catering unfairly to business majors and the various representatives in attendance seem to corroborate the disproportion.  “I am a psychology major and there was no one at the fair for me to speak to,” complained YC sophomore Dovid Green.

“Seeing another display of OPCS blatantly favoring business majors doesn’t surprise me,” remarked an irritated student leader.  “After all they are a Sy Syms affiliate and haven’t done much for liberal arts students in the past.  I don’t expect them to change until a member of the Yeshiva College administration finally decides to step in, which, by the looks of things, won’t be happening anytime soon,” he said.

Marketing majors felt neglected as well, with only a single table accommodating their future needs.  A number of other students also mentioned that, on the whole, this year’s fair was a disappointment. 

Management major Jonah Rosenberg, a SSSB senior, felt the fair had nothing to offer him. “I was asking around for a table about real estate and all I saw were tables for finance and accounting. It seems like YU only caters to the finance and accounting majors anyway. Overall, I was not happy with the fair.”

It seems as though the students were not the only ones unhappy with the fair; many of the companies present were not pleased either. The CEO of one business company that attended the fair said, “I don’t believe it should even be called a ‘Career Fair;’ all I saw by walking around were grad schools. Not enough firms were there. I didn’t see an opportunity for the students to get jobs.” He went on to note that the average attendees very mostly freshman, not students he could seriously consider doling out jobs too.

The CEO, who wished to remain anonymous, offered a proposal to improve the “career” aspect of the career fair. He proposed that the companies should bring Yeshiva alumni to discuss actual careers.

However, the Yeshiva administration chose to look at the fair from the familiar “glass half-full” perspective.  OPCS Director Ira Jaskoll felt that, overall, the fair was a success, especially considering the current economic climate. “The fair this year was a success for this year, in a tight job market. I felt that there was a good showing of companies and grad schools as well as many liberal arts majors and non-profit organizations.” Furthermore, Jaskoll pointed out that other schools have even gone so far as to cancel their career fairs because of the economic climate. Thus, overall, the fair should be considered a success.

Some students concurred with this thinking. “I was able to meet a number of representatives from financial firms and I think I benefited immensely from attending the fair,” stated SSSB junior Ethan Stein, a finance major. Others took away a positive message from the somewhat weak showing of companies. “It was a good indicator for how few companies are hiring these days,” commented YC sophomore Yoni Zanger.

In spite of the discontent echoed by some students, the mood during the Career Fair was very positive. Weissberg Commons was filled with excited students eager to meet someone who could talk to them about the kind of work that companies do. Many students seemed anxious to submit copies of their résumé, in hopes of receiving a summer internship.

Tables supplied students with facts about their respective companies or schools, and many even handed out souvenirs to the lucky few who got there early. In some students’ eyes, this was the predominant attractor to the event:  “Despite the fair’s lack of success, I managed to get what I went for – the little gifts,” said one Sy Syms senior chuckling.

What do you think? Click here to send a letter to the editors.
All content is copyright © Yeshiva University Commentator.