MBA Insider: Careers Q&A August 5, 2008, 8:11PM EST

Notre Dame Careers Q&A

The head of Mendoza's career development office discusses the services the school offers to MBA students in their search for internships and full-time jobs

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Karen Dowd, senior director of MBA career development at Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, has been on the job for less than four years. But though she's only a few years into the role, she has put her mark on nearly every aspect of the career development office. By having her department revamp its Web site to make career resources more accessible to students, adding new program offerings and making some mandatory for students, and implementing an official mentoring program, she hopes Mendoza students will be able to continue their strong record of job placement, even in a rough job market.

Mendoza also has a distinct advantage in drawing recruiters to its campus because of Notre Dame's famous football team. Dowd says whether it's to root for or jeer at the Fighting Irish, recruiters jump at invitations to bring their families to the school's well-attended games and pregame tailgate parties. Mendoza students, in turn, get an informal but valuable chance to make an impression on representatives of the companies where they want to work. Recently, Dowd spoke to BusinessWeek's Francesca Levy to discuss what, besides football, keeps recruiters coming back to campus.

What does the career development office do to prepare students for the job market and help them with their job search?

We're a small program, so we're able to offer customized help to students. We have an active program of coaching, where a student is assigned to an individual coach by function, and we have an active program of education and programs throughout the year, so students get an opportunity to develop skills and get access to resources to help them connect to services. We're also always reaching out proactively to corporate partners to generate job opportunities for students.

Tell me about the one-on-one coaching you provide students?

We assign every student who's seeking employment to a coach. We make those coaching assignments by function so the student can interact with an expert from the industry, someone who really knows and understands the function of the industry. We also put undecided students through a series of self-assessments to help them understand their past and opportunities that might be open to people with their background.

Who are the coaches?

They are individuals who are highly successful in their own careers and who have shown a commitment to helping others develop as professionals. What I've found in this business is that there are people in the industry who are excellent executives but lack the people skills to help develop careers. So we look for both qualities: a strong background that's of interest to MBA students, and those who have shown this orientation toward mentoring and helping develop careers.

How does Mendoza help students who are transitioning from one career to another?

Well, it's absolutely essential that they obtain a summer internship. We don't use the word "mandatory" but we tell them one-on-one if they're making a career change, they have to get an internship in their new area of interest rather than their former area of expertise.

We believe in being honest and realistic with students: that it's going to take hard work on their part and they need to start early.

How has the current economic climate affected the job of the career services department?

We just had our first company rescind an offer, so we know we're not going to be immune to the downturn, but aside from that, we've done surveys showing that companies are still very interested in hiring grads, and we have had a healthy interest in our students.