Students seek future jobs at science career fair

The Biology Academic Advising Office and the Career Development Center sponsored a career fair for biology and chemistry students from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Jordan Hall Atrium. Representatives from prestigious pharmaceutical companies were on hand to meet students and discuss possible internships and career opportunities.\n"We have 15 companies here today," said Alice Eads, biology student services coordinator. "We've got the Peace Corps and then we've got Lilly. Most of the companies are looking for biology and chemistry majors."\nRepresentatives from companies like Baxter Pharmaceutical, Cook Group Inc., Procter & Gamble, Pfizer and Eli Lilly were there to meet with students to talk about jobs.\nThough the atrium was full of students and recruiters, the number of companies was down from years past.\n"Four years ago, we had 22 companies," Eads said. "That says a lot about the economy."\nEads said the low numbers might have something to do with the absence of many government agencies. Although the Peace Corps came to recruit potential members, representatives from the Army and Navy did not. \nBut there was no shortage of representatives to talk to, despite the drop in recruiters. \nPfizer, a national drug development company, came to the career fair for the first time this year. \n"We have positions available, and we are representing R&D (Research and Development) right now," said Pfizer Representative Steve Beale. "Right here, we are looking at the sciences."\nOne of the positions available was Discovery Chemistry, which is the actual development of drugs for distribution.\nAnother organization looking for employees was Teach For America, a national teacher recruitment program that seeks to attract college graduates to the classroom.\n"There is a huge shortage of science teachers across the country right now," Eads said. "Teach for America is actively looking for science and education majors to place in jobs."\nPatrick Donahue, director of the CDC, said most of the companies have available jobs for both December and May graduates.\n"Some companies are looking for sales representatives that have a background, such as a minor in chemistry or biology," he said.\nOne of these companies was Stepan, an organization that makes product equipment.\n"We really like to recruit in Indiana," said Michael Maretich, a recruiter from Stepan. "We need sales people with a technical background in biology and chemistry, but prefer to be out selling. They're calling on Proctor and Gamble and talking to scientists with Ph.D.'s, so it is important that they know what they are talking about."\nThough Stepan may not be well known, Maretich said their products are in everything from shampoo to Formula 409 cleaner.\n"Its interesting because the fair is set up so students can walk through right after class," said Dohahue. "It will be really quiet, and then all the sudden it gets really crowed when classes are let out."\n-- Contact staff writer Cecelia Wolford at cwolford@indiana.edu