Thursday night panel discussion and private meetings with students

When you visit our campus for an on-campus interview event, you are welcome to participate in the panel discussion/Q&A on Thursday night from 7pm to8pm.  But this is not a time for presenting the work of your firm because other firms will be represented on the panel. 

What I have discovered, however, is that the students will research the work of your firm online.  Instead of hearing about the projects, students want to know “what the people are like.”  The panel gives the students an opportunity to have a relaxed and mentoring conversation with the professionals.  This is more meaningful to them than hearing the same pitch typically given to prospective clients.

You are welcome to send introductory materials (hard copy or digital) for the
students to review but, again, what I find to be most effective is information
about the culture of your firm, the people, what staff do in their spare time, how the firm is structured, how the teams are organized and things that are not clearly articulated on most websites.  They also want to know about the benefits offered.  Most will expect to have vacation and healthcare benefits, but what they also want to know about are benefits like gym memberships, transportation discounts, dress-down days, flex hours, summer hours, office parties/outings, all-office crits, lunch & learns, AXP support, happy hours. 

Another option is to send two representatives to Syracuse during interview days. One person conducts the interviews while the other person sits in the waiting room and engages the interviewees in casual conversation about the firm before the interview, mostly related to the info detailed above.

A third option is to invite students to a private meeting at 8pm on Thursday. Some firms offer pizza/snacks/beverages, but I am not able to arrange any of the details for that other than to reserve a room for you.

And, finally, some firms invite all of the interviewees selected for the interviews to meet at a local eatery for snacks and beverages on Thursday at 8pm.

If any of these ideas appeal to you, let me know when you can be here!

                                                                                              Connie Caldwell