Over one hundred Dartmouth sophomores are suiting up and contemplating the number of marbles in an Olympic-size swimming pool to prepare for corporate internship interviews this week. Almost 60 percent of the 169 students who participated in the July 7 resume deadline received offers for on-campus interviews, according to Monica Wilson, associate director of employer relations at Dartmouth Career Services. Eleven companies accepted resumes for the July 7 deadline.
Last summer 148 students participated in the recruiting process with at least 106 students receiving interviews, according to an article published in The Dartmouth.
Bridgewater Associates, an investment management company, received the most applicants, slightly edging out global consulting firm McKinsey & Co., according to Wilson.
Although the economy is in a slump, Wilson said, she expects the number of offers to be similar to that of previous years.
"Investment banking probably had fewer interview slots," she said. "But we have a couple of new employers that weren't here last year, so it should be pretty similar to last year."
Harvey Weinberg '78, partner in the financial services unit of Oliver Wyman, said in an e-mail that the company plans to hire the same number of interns it had last year and plans to increase the number of summer interns in 2009.
"We view Dartmouth as an important source of talent," he said. "The intern program is a great way for us to get to know students and for them to get exposure to Oliver Wyman."
Some students are selected for multiple interviews, Wilson said, adding that those chosen often share similar attributes.
"These students tend to be very well-rounded, have lots of leadership experiences and have thoroughly researched the organizations they're interviewing with," she said. "They've often cultivated relationships with alumni in advance."
While they often have very impressive resumes and cover letters, Wilson said, she frequently hears from employers that Dartmouth students could improve their interviewing skills.
"Something I hear over and over again is that Dartmouth students could do a better job articulating their transferable skills and describing their success at other internships and endeavors," she said. "Dartmouth students tend to be very humble."
On-campus interviews are scheduled through July 29, although some companies have begun to extend job offers, Wilson said.
Wilson stressed that while it appears that "everyone is going through corporate recruiting," there are many other off-term opportunities available for undergraduates.
"The recruiting program represents a miniscule fraction of the internships that are out there," she said. "Career Services has a lot more resources that help students find internships for all terms. Students who didn't get something shouldn't be discouraged."
This summer, Career Services introduced DartBoard, a new medium to submit resumes and cover letters to employers, schedule interviews and view recruiting events. Career Services is in the process of adding an internship consortium feature that will allow students to find over 5,000 internships, Wilson said. Some students reported that their resumes had been deleted when they attempted to transfer them to DartBoard from MonsterTRAK, the previous service, but Wilson said the cause was student error.
"Nothing got deleted," she said. "Students were instructed to log into DartBoard using their old MonsterTRAK username and password, but if they logged in as a new user, their information wasn't there."
