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MBAs brush up on getting jobs – Schools take new tacks in trying to help students market themselves

When Kara Fudge entered the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business two years ago, she knew she had to complete 21 classes to get her MBA, usually a gold-plated ticket into the business world.

By Melita Marie Garza
Tribune staff reporter

Now, unable to line up a job in brand management, 28-year-old Fudge found herself signing up for one last class–telephone etiquette. In the class Fudge and another student tape-record practice voice mails for prospective employers.

"When your voice message is replayed, you hear all your `ummms’," said Fudge, who is being coached by school career advisers on how to improve her messages to snag an employment interview.

Under pressure to find jobs for their graduates, business schools are trying everything from polishing graduates’ skills with finishing school touches to ferrying in recruiters from around the country to counter a bleak market.

The Johnson School of Cornell University literally jets in recruiters to its off-the-beaten-path campus in Ithaca, N.Y., compliments of the school’s namesake, Racine-based S.C. Johnson & Son Inc.

"It’s a tough market out there," said Peter Degnan, director of MBA Career Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. "Wharton, like most of the other major schools, is suffering from that."

Degnan, previously an investment banker, has hired 20 people to help students find jobs and plans on hiring four more.

Wharton mines job leads by tapping professionals who attend its executive education programs. "We are just smarter about using what’s already at our disposal," Degnan said. "We should have been doing this all along."

The University of Chicago also is teaching its students how to dig for job prospects among family and friends.

"When you think of it, why wouldn’t you do that?" asked Fudge. "You think you are bothering your friends and your family. I don’t know why I felt that way because I would do anything for them."

Last June, 72 percent of the U. of C. MBA graduates had jobs when they received their degree, said Julie Morton, associate dean for MBA Career Services.

In 2001, a more typical year, 93 percent had jobs when they graduated, she said.

The news isn’t all bad. Morton said 36 companies that never had recruited at the school signed up for campus interviews this year. Those that did come were treated to new amenities, including hot lunches, cable TV and a sofa in the recruiters’ lounge.

One of those recruiting was Ritchie Capital Management LLC, a hedge fund based in Geneva, Ill.

"We see this as a key opportunity in a down economy, with investment banks pulling out of recruitment, to hire top talent," said Doug Rothschild, vice president for human capital.

The firm came away from the U. of C. with three trading floor intern hires. They recruited seven others from other business schools. "We hope to convert at least some of them to full-time hires," said Rothschild. "That can be the future backbone of our business."

Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Evanston is focusing on teaching students how to speak more effectively.

It grooms students and alumni on the art of the "elevator pitch"–"how to use interesting hooks and share personal information to allow conversation to flow more easily."

Last year, Kellogg also started a program in which alumni volunteers chatted about career aspirations for a half hour with first- and second-year students. After 20 students did not get the chance to talk to an executive, Kellogg added five more executives, up from three.

Some Kellogg students who do not have jobs lined up also can get "adopted" by deans for one-on-one brainstorming sessions.

"People sometimes need a little bit of perspective when they are looking for a job," said Roxanne Hori, assistant dean and director of career services.

Dean Dipak Jain also has had good success reminding alumni in e-mails to contact Kellogg if they have projects suitable for students.

Preparation, attitude and dressing professionally, even when you are on a phone seeking an interview, are important–at least that is what U. of C. students are taught in the telephone etiquette class.

"I learned to really think about what it was I wanted to say before I picked up the phone," said Michaela Murphy, 28, who hopes to land a job in marketing or general management.

"I learned to write down notes, to include how I came by the contact, and to jot down particular questions about the industry," she said.

Tips for talking on the phone–to remember to smile and sit up straight– were not that helpful. "I tend to smile a fair amount anyway," said Murphy, who holds a degree in drama from Tufts University.

Murphy also disregarded the suggestion to dress professionally while making phone calls.

"I’m not there yet," Murphy said. "If I’m still looking for work in several months, I will have my business suit on when I make my calls."

Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0304300318apr30,1,5473681.story?coll=chi%2Dbusiness%2Dhed

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