By Bryon Wells
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 24, 1997

Career fair offers students direct access to potential employers

Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior merchandiser at J.C.Penney Co. Inc., Anna Mercer, explains summer internships and the management training program to communication senior Chris Coronella during the Career Fair yesterday afternoon in the Arizona Ballroom of the Memorial Student Union.

Bryon Wells

Some UA seniors graduating this December have found in today's job market sometimes having just a college degree is not quite enough.

To get the jobs that will be spiritually stimulating as well as financially rewarding, these students usually begin their career searching as early as the start of their junior year.

The second day of the Career Fair starts today at 9 a.m. in the Rincon Room of the Memorial Student Union Ballroom.

Until 3 p.m. today, visitors can market themselves with employers, hand in résumés and find information on more than 100 different companies.

By taking advantage of opportunities offered at functions like Career Week '97, and internships found through UA Career Services, seniors like Deanna Anderson, Maria Reyes and Jim Blocker have given themselves an edge over students who wait until graduation before they draft a résumé.

Anderson, a mechanical engineering major graduating this December, submitted copies of her résumé to many corporate recruiters at last year's job fair. About two weeks later, Anderson said she was hired by Texas Instruments for a summer internship.

Anderson, 26, did her internship in Dallas, working directly with other mechanical engineers in the field.

At Texas Instruments, her duties included product analysis, as well as working with a small group to actually participate in the design of components for defense contracted equipment.

For Anderson, the experience proved rewarding.

"You get an idea of what the companies are like," she said, "how they do their projects, their deadlines and weekly reports."

Anderson considered her internship successful, and said she will distribute more résumés to different companies at this year's Career Week. She hopes to be employed by January.

Reyes, a senior majoring in retailing, did an internship with J.C. Penney Co. Inc. in the El Con Mall last summer.

Reyes signed up with the Career Services Co-op program, which enabled her to interview with retail recruiters.

Through the Co-op program, Reyes filled out her résumé on a computer disk, along with any other information employers would want to isolate an ideal candidate, such as graduation date and what vocational field the person is qualified for.

This information is then loaded electronically to a database, Reyes said, providing access to possible employers nationwide.

The employers can then set up on or off campus interviews through Career Services with the people who meet their specific requirements.

At the El Con Mall, Reyes said she spent 20 hours a week on the sales floor, and 20 hours doing office and management duties.

Being in a position of leadership, Reyes said she learned a lot about the character traits that make a good manager.

"When you are doing internships you are a manager," she said.

Reyes, 21, said the store's regular employees were uncomfortable with her at first because of her age.

"You have to earn their respect," she said, "and that's sort of tough to do."

For yesterday's Business, Liberal Arts and Retail Day, Reyes was asked by the J.C. Penney district personnel manager to act as a "spokesperson" for the company's internship program.

As for her career expectations, Reyes said it is likely that she will go back to J.C. Penney upon graduation.

That is just a start, she said. Her ultimate goal is to achieve higher positions in the company, such as second level manager or district manager.

Another UA senior who will be working the Career Fair is Blocker, a 23-year-old electronic engineering major.

He will work with Career Services today to help set up employer booths, and perform any miscellaneous duties necessary before Career Week's Engineering, Agriculture and Science Day begins.

After this, he said he will take full advantage of networking opportunities with the many corporate representatives and recruiters in the Memorial Student Union Ballroom.

Blocker, who plans to work in the field of defense and communication, has done three internships with U S West Communications at their central headquarters in Denver, Colo.

Like Reyes, Blocker's internships were obtained through the Co-op program.

He said he was paid $13.50 per hour when he started, then up to $18.50 during his last term, working 45 hours per week.

Besides the pay, Blocker said the experience showed him the "inside politics" of a major corporation, revealing "the things you don't see from visiting their web page."

Blocker worked in a design group that plans for new facilities going into the 14 states that make up U S West. He said his duties included design engineering for communications services in the Arizona area.

He said he has gotten what amounts to verbal offers for a job at U S West, but hopes to solidify a formal offer by late November, then take the time to relocate to Colorado.

Looking back, Blocker said he is relieved he took the time to do his internships.

If he had not done so, he said, "I wouldn't be as competitive, because I wouldn't have the experience."