Career Week Draws 69 Companies, 815 Students

SHA hosted Career Week 2012 in mid-October, welcoming representatives from 69 companies across many sectors of the hospitality industry. Throughout the week two-thirds of the companies held interviews for fulltime and summer positions. Others plan to hold interviews off site or on campus in the spring. Forty-four percent of recruiters were SHA alumni.

“There was a lot of energy throughout the entire Career Week, coming from both the students and employers,” said Molly deRoos, director of Career Management in the Office of Student Services. “We coordinated about 700 interviews in that week alone, which is tremendous. Recruiting is definitely up, companies are hiring, and the employment outlook for our students is good.”

During a general Career Day on Tuesday, October 16, and Real Estate Career Day on Thursday, October 18, 815 students took advantage of the opportunity to meet with recruiters and learn more about the various hospitality companies and job opportunities. Each event was followed by a reception for students and employers. A third reception was held earlier in the week, and employers connected with members of two unique student organizations: National Society of Minorities in Hospitality (NSMH) and Hotel Graduate Student Organization (HGSO).

“My freshman year I was lucky enough to connect with Union Square Hospitality Group at Career Day and went on to have one of the most formative experiences of my working life at Union Square Cafe. Every year I look forward to reconnecting with them even though my interests have taken me out of operations,” said Michael McLaughlin ’13, who now has two final round interviews with companies that came to Ithaca for Career Week. “This semester I was even more impressed: the variety, quantity, and quality of the companies at the career fair was impressive. It is a great source of pride for me to walk into the Carrier Ballroom and know that this is why I chose the School of Hotel Administration.”

To learn more about Career Week and other Career Management programs and services, visit https://sha.cornell.edu/corporations-recruiters/recruiting/.