Fairs bring students, employers together
"The position 'financial analyst' doesn't mean much," Urbanski says. "I want to know exactly what I'm doing, what are my daily tasks and opportunities for developing my career."
This spring, students and companies are finding the job-fair season as much a fact-finding process as a hiring one.
Employers were surprised by the number of students not yet ready for a career, said fair organizers at the season's largest fair, an International Association of Students in Economics and Business (AIESEC)-sponsored event held at the Palace of Culture.
Students are coming with more questions: to find out just what employers want, hitting them up for information, advice on course selection and where available, internships and summer jobs, they say.
Naj International, a Warsaw-based recruitment agency, was at the Palace of Culture fair giving out job-hunting advice and sample resumU and query letters - two important job-hunting documents that too many students are still unfamiliar with, employers say.
Students were also asked to fill out a questionnaire, as Naj was looking to spot promising rookies early. Like other recruitment firms, Naj's clients are usually looking for employees with more - and specific - experience than most recent grads have to offer.
But as Naj President Francois Nail sees it, those new grads will be just what his clients need a few years down the road.
So his agency adds them to its database, follows their careers and, when the offer is right, those former students are ready for the picking.
Naj has been to all AIESEC-sponsored fairs since they began three years ago, Nail says, and they have already placed some of those former students from the first fairs.
Nail, who was the commercial attachU at the French Embassy before starting Naj in 1991, says students have come a long way in a few years. For example, "three years ago, most didn't know how to write a CV," he says.
But Nail says most students want to apply to the same companies - Coca-Cola, Pepsi - and ignore the opportunities at smaller, less prestigious companies. Not everyone can work for big companies like Coca-Cola, he says.
That's only one aspect of the naivetU. Another problem is students who get discouraged by their first job.
"The first experience is very important," Nail says, and students are going into careers without putting enough investigation and thought into their choice.
A solution may be internships.
Procter & Gamble Co., present at three Warsaw fairs, runs one of the more extensive internship programs here. Its managerial hires are almost all just out of college, says Giorgio Siracusa, human resources manager. He says 80% to 90% of those interns are offered full-time positions at P&G.
Marcin Zielinski, a fourth-year banking and finance student, interned at Unilever two years ago.
"Students can see the difference between lectures and real life," he said. An equally important internship experience, he says, comes if a student hates the job.
Then, Zielinski adds, "he knows what not to do."
This spring, students and companies are finding the job-fair season as much a fact-finding process as a hiring one.
Employers were surprised by the number of students not yet ready for a career, said fair organizers at the season's largest fair, an International Association of Students in Economics and Business (AIESEC)-sponsored event held at the Palace of Culture.
Students are coming with more questions: to find out just what employers want, hitting them up for information, advice on course selection and where available, internships and summer jobs, they say.
Naj International, a Warsaw-based recruitment agency, was at the Palace of Culture fair giving out job-hunting advice and sample resumU and query letters - two important job-hunting documents that too many students are still unfamiliar with, employers say.
Students were also asked to fill out a questionnaire, as Naj was looking to spot promising rookies early. Like other recruitment firms, Naj's clients are usually looking for employees with more - and specific - experience than most recent grads have to offer.
But as Naj President Francois Nail sees it, those new grads will be just what his clients need a few years down the road.
So his agency adds them to its database, follows their careers and, when the offer is right, those former students are ready for the picking.
Naj has been to all AIESEC-sponsored fairs since they began three years ago, Nail says, and they have already placed some of those former students from the first fairs.
Nail, who was the commercial attachU at the French Embassy before starting Naj in 1991, says students have come a long way in a few years. For example, "three years ago, most didn't know how to write a CV," he says.
But Nail says most students want to apply to the same companies - Coca-Cola, Pepsi - and ignore the opportunities at smaller, less prestigious companies. Not everyone can work for big companies like Coca-Cola, he says.
That's only one aspect of the naivetU. Another problem is students who get discouraged by their first job.
"The first experience is very important," Nail says, and students are going into careers without putting enough investigation and thought into their choice.
A solution may be internships.
Procter & Gamble Co., present at three Warsaw fairs, runs one of the more extensive internship programs here. Its managerial hires are almost all just out of college, says Giorgio Siracusa, human resources manager. He says 80% to 90% of those interns are offered full-time positions at P&G.
Marcin Zielinski, a fourth-year banking and finance student, interned at Unilever two years ago.
"Students can see the difference between lectures and real life," he said. An equally important internship experience, he says, comes if a student hates the job.
Then, Zielinski adds, "he knows what not to do."
