MBAs from Mid-Atlantic Region Gather at UM for Career Quest 2007

On Sept. 28, 2007 MBA students from around the region gathered at the University of Maryland's Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center to participate in MBA Career Quest 2007. The Robert H. Smith School of Business was one of eight sponsoring institutions and the host of this years event. Students representing 15 institutions spent the day networking with approximately 60 different employers from across the region and around the country.

Students were encouraged to use the Career Quest Web site to check out the attending employers and upload their resumes in advance of the event. The Web site was a great resource for the students in their preparation for the event. The Career Quest team did a great job of providing the students with everything they needed in advance of the event and helping them out once they arrived. According to Smith first-year MBA Clayton Brisson, I thought Career Quest was very organized and well run. The career fair went very smoothly for me from registration, researching companies on the Career Quest Web site to attending the fair. The Riggs Alumni Center is a great space for this event as well.

Once inside, MBAs were presented with an abundance of career opportunities, as each employer filled their space with information about the firm and sent several recruiters to chat with the students. This engendered a very interactive environment, making the experience both useful and positive for the employers and the students. The companies represented at the fair were diverse in background and in industry. Regardless of what industry the students were interested in, finance, consulting, marketing, etc., there were multiple firms represented in each discipline. As Smith MBA Clayton Brisson noted, Although Career Quest was mainly geared toward full-time positions, I found a lot of value in attending this career fair as a first-year student looking for an internship next summer. Recruiters were very helpful in providing information on their companies as well as future internship opportunities. There was also a great variety of companies present at the fair which gave me great exposure to firms in the region.

From Target to Lockheed Martin to GE, the dozens of recruiters at Career Quest seemed thrilled with the turnout. Executives from HCL America, Inc., based in Sunnyvale, Calif., were very satisfied with the candidates they met and left with a large stack of resumes. I was very excited to come back to Smith to recruit, said Vineet Gambhir, who received his MBA from the Smith School in 1996. Gambhir is regional director of human resources for North America for HCL America, Inc., a subsidiary of HCL Technologies, LTD., which is headquartered in India.

A constant stream of students made their way through the floor of the Riggs Alumni Center throughout the day. Attendance was high and participants seemed very pleased with the overall experience. One first-year Smith MBA said, I spent about two hours at the fair and found it to be very informative. The event was well-organized, the employers were eager to meet students, and the student lounge was a great place to recoup some energy after chatting with a few employers. I found it to be a very positive experience.

▓ Adam Weiner, MBA Candidate 2009, Smith Media Group