OCS-OCL Expects More Job Hunters

More seniors than ever before will be taking advantage of Harvard's on-campus job recruiting program his year, continuing an upward trend in the numbers heading for employment directly after graduation.

Almost twice as many students will participate in the interviews this year as did five years ago, said Linda Z. Chernick, director of recruiting at the Office of Career Services and Off-Campus Learning (OCS-OCL).

She added that 100 more students have already attended mandatory introductory meetings for this year's interviewing than did all of last year.

A total of 598 seniors, or 38.5 percent of the class, eventually participated in on-campus recruiting last year, as compared to only 327 seniors, or 20 percent, during 1980-81.

Similarly, the number of students planning employment after graduating last year rose to an all-time high of 57.6 percent of the class, compared to 50.3 percent in 1980, according to a report by OCS-OCL Director Martha P. Leape.

Leape attributed the rise in student participation to an increase in students' desire to be financially independent, pay off college loans and have time to decide what kind of graduate study, if any, to pursue.

The first of two annual recruiting seasons matching interested seniors, graduate students and alumni with company representatives began in October and will continue through early December.

Most fall session interviews are for jobs starting in January or for during the summer only, according to OCS-OCL officials.

Stayman and Blackwell

Students can sign up on a first-come, first-serve basis for fall interviews, but students must bid with allotted points in order to gain interviews during the busier spring season beginning in February.

OCS-OCL allots spring season hopefuls 1000 points with which to bid for interviews with companies, which will grant time to the highest bidders.

Alternatively, students wishing to obtain interviews, with companies operating under a "closed system" can do so by submitting resumes at a cost of 10 points each. The companies then chose which of the applicants they wish to interview, Chernick added.

OCS-OCL began using the bidding system six years ago because "students would line up in the wee hours of the morning to get interviews" under the old system, Chernick said.

According to Leape, the bidding system "distributes the interview opportunities as equitably as possible."

Despite the large number of participants in the recruiting program, OCS-OCL officials stress that recruiting is only a small part of the job search.

They Won't Call You

"Recruiting is probably the least effective way to get a job," Chernick said, because the cross section of companies who come to Harvard is not representative of the job market, and because the applicant pool at Harvard is extremely competitive.

She added that although 188 companies conducted 2855 interviews last year, a relatively small number of participants actually get jobs through these interviews. "We think that it's around 30 percent," she said.

"Most employers, of course, do not come to Harvard to interview," Leape said, adding some types of employers are only interested in candidates who seek them out first. She also said that some employers can not afford to participate in on-campus recruiting.