Kelley School seniors busy with year-round job search

Each fall, seniors in the Kelley School of Business trade in their backpacks and IU sweatshirts for new suits and leather-bound portfolios. \nFor the majority of graduating business students, fall semester marks the beginning of their job-search processes. But the act of seeking employment following graduation can become a job in itself. Having a flawless resume, finding a suit that fits just right and scheduling interviews are just a few of the steps seniors take to find that perfect job; And the Kelley School provides its seniors with many resources to make finding a job as painless as possible.\n"For business students, the process of finding a job is hugely time-consuming," said April Legler, lecturer of business administration. "IU is one of the few schools that approaches the education of students in career topics the way we do."\nMore than 13,000 interviews are conducted annually through the Business Careers Services Office, according to the Kelley School Web site. Kelley seniors have access to the business Undergraduate Career Services office's services through the required class X420, Career Planning.\n"Very few schools have a required class ... X420 provides students with the knowledge and tools to get jobs," said Legler, who is also one of the course coordinators for X420.\nSenior Jeff Carter is currently enrolled in X420 and has made use of the resources the UCSO provides to help seniors schedule interviews.\n"I had no idea it was this easy, you take three minutes to look over a company and then thirty seconds to put in your bid for an interview time," he said. "The UCSO does make it easy."\nFor some seniors, conducting the process of finding a job and setting up interviews is not so easy. Senior Jeff Chelin, a marketing major, has encountered many obstacles while searching for jobs.\n"While I do feel the UCSO offers many students valuable services, I feel the services would be more useful if there were jobs offered in other fields outside of sales and retail," he said. "As a student seeking a job in sports and entertainment, I would like to see more diversified interview opportunities." \nSome students are fortunate enough to have completed their job-search early on. Senior Bigel Doshi accepted an offer with Goldman Sachs, a New York-based investment bank, at the start of this school year. \n"I was a summer analyst there and received an offer as a result of the internship," he said.\nDoshi's story is reflective of the current trend of internships playing a major role in students finding jobs. In today's job market, almost all major companies want to see students with internship experience before offering them a job.\nWhen students receive offers, Doshi recommends they continue to be thorough in evaluating their options.\n"Even if you have your dream offer in hand, if there's something else out there that you seriously want to explore, do it," he said. "It's tempting to jump at the first offer you get, but right now, in college, is one of the few opportunities you'll have to access a wide variety of companies."\n-- Contact staff writer Ron Neroda at rneroda@indiana.edu.