Kelley students compete for interviews

Business major Jeff Dulla knew he'd be nervous before his interview Monday with banking giant Wells Fargo. But he was happy just to have made it that far. \nAfter attending a job fair, talking with a recruiter and corresponding by e-mail for weeks after, Dulla earned a spot on the company's preference list, giving him priority over other students in scheduling an interview. \n"It feels great," he said. "It just makes the effort and the work you put into it worthwhile."\nAs recruiters head to the Kelley School of Business in droves in the coming weeks, thousands of students like Dulla are clamoring for interviews with visiting companies.\nFor many, half the battle of landing a job is getting the interview, especially with popular companies that offer a limited amount of interview times. \nOne way business majors can grab an interview slot is through the preferencing process, in which companies pre-select students to interview with them. Such a designation gives the student higher priority in getting on the company's interview schedule, but it's no guarantee. \n"Being on a preference list absolutely is an advantage," said Mark J. Brostoff, associate director of the business school's Undergraduate Career Services Office. "At the same time, a student who doesn't get preferenced is certainly not blocked out of an interview opportunity." \nBusiness students sign up for interviews by placing electronic "bids," ranked by priority, in an automated computer program administered by the office. Each student has 39 bids per semester, with some designated as priority bids, meaning there is higher chance of getting the desired interview. \nBut preferenced students get the added advantage of having their requests reviewed first, even though some type of bid is still required. \n"You have a greater probability of getting on to an interview schedule, a very competitive interview schedule, if you've been preferenced," Brostoff said, also noting that some companies preference more students than available interview positions. "If you're preferenced, you still are encouraged to always bid (according to) your interest." \nSome of the most difficult interviews to get are those with the Big Four accounting firms -- Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers -- Target Corp., Proctor & Gamble and Unilever, Brostoff said. \nFor interested students, simply getting on the preference lists requires focus and effort, Brostoff said. \nSome students are placed after submitting resumes to the companies, while others meet with a recruiter through company presentations, networking sessions and career fairs. In some cases, a student is pre-selected to interview even without expressing interest, due to the business school's compilation of Web resumes. \nBrostoff said he encourages students to directly ask recruiters to be placed on their preference lists. He also advises students to include such a request at the bottom of a cover letter.\nOftentimes, multiple approaches work best, he said. \n"The more times that you have contact with that company ... the greater chance you have of being preferenced," Brostoff said. "You can't over-network with recruiters."\nMore than 80 percent of the interviews conducted through the business school's career office use preference lists. A few others are open to all students -- without preferences -- while some are closed to only students selected by the company. \nNo official figures track how many students were preferenced last year, although more than 100,000 bids -- including online resume submissions -- were placed for 11,534 interviews and more than 2,600 job postings, Brostoff said. \nStill, preferencing isn't everything. \nFor companies looking to hire students, preference lists help ensure that qualified, interested candidates make it to interviews, recruiters say. \n"It really gives us a stronger indication where students' true interests lie," said Molly White, an Indianapolis-based recruiter for Ernst & Young, which conducts about 200 interviews on campus each year. "It really helps us narrow down the search and ultimately find the right people for the right position." \nBut preferencing might give the biggest boost to international students and applicants who don't meet the posted requirements for jobs, Brostoff said. \nEven though a company may stipulate that only permanent U.S. residents may interview for a job or internship, for instance, students may bypass that requirement if they are added to a preference list. \n"It's not rare that companies will preference a student who's below any of the published qualifications so they will have the opportunity to get on the schedule," Brostoff said. \n"Many times international students say they don't have enough opportunity, and yet through preferencing and through their ability to network with companies, they can clearly increase their opportunities beyond what might be published (in the company's stipulations)."\nYet Abramoff, the finance major, said students can't relax once they get to the interview stage, even if they are preferenced. After all, she said, they still need to get the job. \n"It's a big sigh of relief when you do get the interview," she said. "But you are really nervous; it's not all over from there"