David Edwards is the director of the Business Career Centre at the Queen's School of Business (No. 2 on BusinessWeek's 2002 ranking of non-U.S. schools) in Kingston, Ontario, in Canada. Edwards earned his MBA at Queen's in 1986. He spent years working in corporate and investment banking until returning to lead career services, which now offers an MBA for Science and Technology, vs. a more general MBA.

Edwards' goals are to help students make informed decisions, meet their employment targets, but also develop lifelong career-strategy skills. BusinessWeek Online project assistant Francesca Di Meglio recently interviewed Edwards. Here's an edited excerpt of their discussion:

Q: If you had your way, what would every student do before arriving at school?
A: First, [students would] pull together everything they know about themselves and...their skill sets. Set realistic expectations. Many MBAs look at the average salary and the placement stats at the B-schools and think they're at least [worth the] average [salary], if not better. But...about half of the graduates [earn] below that by the very nature of that statistic. When students look at the [salary] statistics, they [should] look at the range, not the average. Then they'll have a better idea of what they can expect to earn. They should also keep an open mind. If they spend the whole time worrying what's going to happen to them after they graduate, they'll probably get much less out of the program.

Q: What help does your office provide Queen's MBAs during their job search?
A: We focus heavily on the off-campus job search. Half to two-thirds of students find employment outside of the on-campus program...which is primarily targeted at a few core industry groups.

We hold Career Advantage Programs (CAP) or obligatory week-long courses that fall between semesters. Typically, we spend time with students going over benchmark data and giving them an idea of what they can expect from recruiters. Throughout the week we host workshops and panels that cover the basics. For example, someone from the English department will go over cover-letter writing. We organize Wine, Dine and Act Fine, at which students are given instruction on everything from how to juggle wine glasses and business cards to the proper way to effectively mingle.

We also have a session about PowerPoint presentations, because increasingly, through case competitions and second- or third-stage interviews, companies are requesting that potential employees prepare and present a case. We also run separate image-management classes for men and women about appropriate attire. Another CAP week will have similar kinds of content but is more focused on the independent job search and networking.

Q: What types of recruiters come to campus and which ones don't?
A: Investment banking, consulting, and finance [absorb] anywhere between 50% and two-thirds of all MBA graduates. We're fairly similar to that with one exception: A fairly high concentration of high-tech and telecom companies come here. That shouldn't be a surprise because one of the requirements for the program is that [students] have an undergrad degree in science and technology, engineering, or some related field. There are four or five large telecommunications companies -- Bell Canada, for instance -- that typically come annually. The top five Canadian banks are here every year, and a number of the consulting divisions from accounting firms come here fairly consistently. This past year, we saw the return of some of the other consulting firms that had taken leave for a year or so.

A number of years ago, we saw a drop in the number of bio-tech and pharmaceutical companies that were interested in our graduates, and we haven't really seen a return. About 3% of our students go into the bio/pharma sector, but I'd like to see more of those companies come back to look at MBAs more seriously.

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