In a Competitive Job Market, How Do Desautels Students Match Up?

Career Services holds annual career fair

13 Oct, 2011 5:20

Written by Chris Conery

Kunal Shah | The Bull & Bear

Students speak to representatives from Chubb Insurance.

On Friday, September 24th, the Omni Hotel hosted the Desautels Career Fair, bringing together 310 job savvy McGill management students and top recruiters from Canada and the world around.

The Career Fair gave students the opportunity to meet and network with potential employers while recruiters scouted up-and-coming talent for their companies. Overall, employers’ reactions were positive towards McGill students.

Derek Ruediger from L’Oreal explained that Desautels is “almost a feeder school for young talent at L’Oreal. Above just academic achievement, McGill students seem to fit within the organization. There is an added dynamic to their education.”

Surveys recording companies’ reactions to the Career Fair noted that Desautels has “an amazing pool of talented students who are well prepared, organized, well-spoken, and aggressive. In this regard McGill graduates have an upper hand on competing schools.”  But is that enough for recruiters?

The folly of the GPA is something that distracts many students from what really matters.  Executive director of Desautels Career Services, Marie-Jose Beaudin, explains that “GPAs are relevant for certain jobs, but not all. Employers are looking for well-rounded, well-balanced candidates with achievements outside their academic careers. They’re looking for the passion, outlook, culture, value, and fit that defines candidates. A good GPA helps, but there is much more.”

In such a competitive job market, it is more true than ever that it is not what you know, but who you know. This is what makes events like Career Fair so important for attaining prestigious positions because 80% of jobs are not posted.  Beaudin gave suggestions regarding how to stand out in recruiters’ minds:

1.     Be professional, first impressions are key

2.     Be engaged in discussions

3.     Bring a portfolio of accomplishment (mentally, or physically)

4.     Don’t sit back; be proactive

5.     Follow up!

Career Services has recently implemented a new portal to myFuture – career portal. This new feature gives students the knowledge and tools needed for specific careers in an effort to help them launch into their careers early.

U1 student, Dora Du, majoring in International Management knows that it is never too early to start the job hunt, “I found the event provided a great opportunity to gain exposure and meet potential future employers.”

However, not all students shared the same reaction to the Career Fair. James Xiang Ji, a U3 Computer Science major explains, “Although recruiters were taking resumes today, they were telling students to apply online; they simply took resumes as a courtesy. I was planning to make 30 new contacts and was only able to make 10.”

Similar to years past, companies were impressed with McGill students. Recruiters continue to offer jobs to McGill graduates because of their continued excellence. The most important advice from recruiters was that you can never be too aggressive; passion is something that all recruiters find refreshing and appreciate.

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