Thunderbird Reaches Out

Kip Harrell has been the vice-president for professional & career management at Thunderbird, the Garvin School of International Management, in Glendale, Ariz., for three years. Before coming to Thunderbird, Harrell oversaw recruitment and hiring for top firms, including Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), for 14 years.

Harrell says the number of company recruiters coming to Thunderbird's campus has risen considerably during his three years there. Although the school has a hard time getting foreign companies to visit, despite its global-management focus, more U.S. recruiters are looking to fill positions at international locations, he says (see BW Online, 11/22/05, "Thunderbird Endures Shrinking Pains"). About 33% of last year's graduates went on to fill international posts.

Harrell recently spoke with BusinessWeek intern Helena Oh. Here's an edited excerpt of their conversation:

What internship or job opportunities are available for international business students in Glendale?
I think the question really assumes that this is a regional school, and it isn't (see BW Online, 1/8/06, "Video View: Thunderbird's Global Outreach"). At other schools, you'll see anywhere from 50% to 70% of graduates going to work in the school's local region. Only 35% of our students are in the Southwest region, and about 65% accept employment outside the region. About 33% of our students went to jobs abroad in the last academic year. There are some international positions in Phoenix, but clearly students are interested in global employment.

Which companies are recruiting for international spots?
Some examples are Hilti, which comes every trimester; DHL, which is a part of Deutsche Post World Net; and Citigroup (C ). In 2005, our graduates accepted jobs in 33 countries.

What types of companies would you like to see more of on campus?
We would love to have more of the New York-based investment banks and private equity firms come to campus. That can be a challenge, because they have incredibly good graduate schools in the Northeast that can supply their needs. But the good news is you can use the alumni network, because many of our graduates end up in those investment banks.

In the past year, we have sponsored trips where we take anywhere from 12 to 20 students to a destination city and we arrange visits with five to eight companies. This has resulted in job offers with companies that didn't come here in the past, such as AT Kearney. Now, Kearney representatives are visiting us. We have done six trips so far, and we have two more scheduled in the spring and another two in the fall.

Besides international business, what other industries have your graduates broken into?
We have done surprisingly well across all industries. Companies that understand the value of the global mindset and the international business degree come here realizing they can employ our students and, within a couple of years, send them to different regions of the globe. And our graduates do very well.

What are the most popular industries among your graduates?
Financial services, and then consumer products. In the past year, Chiquita (CQB ), Clorox (CLX ), Kraft (KFT ), L'Oreal, and Masterfoods were all here looking for marketing-focused students.

And because of the international backgrounds our folks have, we do pretty well in the government and non-profit sectors. Representatives from the World Bank and the Grameen Foundation visit our campus regularly as well.

How do you help career changers with their job search?
We find on a consistent basis that at least half of our students are here to change careers. When you're interviewing as a student without a particular experience in a function or an industry, it's important that you craft your resume into one that's targeted specifically at the company or industry in which you're interested. We help students identify the skill sets they have that are cross-functional or cross-industry and highlight those.

What else makes Thunderbird's Career Management Center unique?
Career Week, which was held for the first time last October, was such a success that we built it into the academic calendar for the next three years. It will be held annually in the first week of October.

During that time, there were no tests, exams, projects, or classes, and career management took over. About 130 different representatives from over 50 companies were here, and students interviewed at the end of the week. We had guest speakers and events that covered topics such as networking, etiquette, and interviewing skills.