Capital Ties

Maryland's location near Washington means opportunities for government consulting abound. But students are offered other career options in the career counseling process

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Peter Brown
University of Maryland

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Attending college near the nation's capital has its advantages, especially for students interested in consulting services. Just ask undergraduates at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business.

"The government is in town and there's a lot of government consulting that goes on," says Peter Brown, director of Smith's office of career management. Top recruiting firms include Accenture (CAN), KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Deloitte Consulting (see BusinessWeek.com, 8/13/06, "Accounting With Major Mobility").

Future consultants make up the largest portion of Maryland undergrads, says Brown. However, the university also brings several accounting firms and banks to on-campus recruiting sessions, allowing students to explore other options.

Brown, a 1993 graduate of the Smith MBA program, plays an instrumental role in the career development process. He manages relationships with recruiting organizations and oversees support services. He recently chatted with BusinessWeek.com reporter Julie Gordon. Edited excerpts of their conversation follow.

Can you describe the career coaching program?

Every student is provided with a career coach that they can come and see as often as they like to talk about their job search strategies, résumés and cover letters, what the companies are targeting, etc.

How many coaches are there?

Three. Now, it is incumbent upon the students [to seek them out]. We have a Web site. We put signs in the atrium. We put all types of publicity across campus that our services exist for our business students. All three coaches are filled just about every day.

Does each coach specialize in a field or are they general advisers?

On the undergraduate side, they are general career coaches. We don't do it by functional area. So they get whoever is available. And what may happen is that for whatever reason, [students] may develop a good relationship with someone in a particular functional area and recommend their friends to that person, but I don't have it organized in functional area at the undergraduate level. I do at the graduate level.

Is that because of resources?

Yes, resources and the focus of the undergraduates. When they're freshmen and sophomores they might not know a major yet. And that's even true in many cases for juniors and seniors that need to find themselves. So I keep it so that the career coaches are well established to talk about whatever the student would like to look into.

How often should a student meet with a coach?

I think every student should meet at least once to do an initial one-on-one to go over the career objectives and to make sure they match with the résumé and the background. But three times a semester is probably a minimum for the ones that are serious about getting employed and serious about their careers.

What goes on during meetings?

On the initial uptake, we have a basic form that gets filled out that talks about major and career aspirations. They talk about the student's network, whether it's through parents or friends or other students, so we assess that and get a picture for who the student is.

When they come back, career coaches put them in touch with our employer-development managers who have relationships with companies where the student may want to work. Once they know that and they come over to employer-development managers, we can [perform] outreach on their behalf.