New ‘Meet the Firms’ a win for recruiters, students

With record-setting student and recruiter attendance, excellent engagement between companies and attendees, and a well-conceived plan for follow up, Weston Career Center‘s “Meet the Firms” event last week was a definite win for Olin Business School.

Seventy firms greeted 1,082 students — 990 from Olin — during the afternoon/evening event on the first three floors of Knight and Bauer Hall. The event was basically filled to capacity with representatives from regional, national, and multinational firms seeking time to engage with WashU students.

The success for our latest edition of Olin’s annual early-semester career forum was particularly noteworthy because it included several “firsts” for the event. To start with, we limited the entire program to a single day, which created more “bang for the buck” for the companies who attended and allowed us to more closely collaborate with the WashU career center.

Another major highlight during the day was a “recruiters’ insights” luncheon, featuring a panel of three Olin students answering questions from recruiters about attracting and engaging candidates for their job openings.

Jacqueline Fancher, BSBA ’19, Jeff Brown, MBA ’19, and Qihua (Mike) Cai, MSBA ’19, addressed issues such as how employers can make a good impression on candidates, what attracts students to a job description, and the “tipping point” for accepting a job or an internship offer.

The session was a tremendous success, creating a forum for conversation between the students and the recruiters. The biggest two takeaways for the recruiters? First, job candidates want to build a meaningful relationship with recruiters and hiring managers. Second, candidates are seeking opportunities in firms where they’re convinced they can make a difference — even if they’re starting at an entry level.

Another new feature of this year’s Meet the Firms didn’t actually happen on Sept. 12. It’s starting to happen now, behind the scenes, as the career center’s new “industry and employers team” conducts one-on-one follow-ups with each employer that attended.

It’s important to remember that the career forum itself is just one touchpoint for a hiring company. The post-forum engagement is a critical component of the new Weston Career Center as we reengage with the firms, build relationships with their hiring managers, and develop a consultative relationship that will yield long-term benefits for them and our students.

We’re putting into action work that has happened over the past 12 months to reimagine the role of the Weston Career Center. We’ve built the infrastructure to support that new mission, and now we’re putting it into action with gusto.

I’m grateful for everyone who contributed to making Meet the Firms a big success, and I’m excited to see the work moving ahead to reap the rewards from this first big win.