Sharing of her time and knowledge, senior Jena Landis helps a local student with his math homework after school. Landis and others helped with tutoring as a way of giving back to the children in the community. [ Courtesy of Jena Landis] SeekingBusiness students make job connections [coba] 183 Students at Harding had very basic goals while at school: go to class, have fun with friends and hopefully find a little time to study.While these general roles of a Harding student could have been debatable, the most important goal remained the same: get a job. While the task of finding one of those jobs could have been daunting for some, the campus consistently provided opportunities for its students to become connected in the work field. Harding’s Accounting Department continually brought in accounting firms from the region to interview students. It was designed to give opportunities to students to make connections and find work. Firms looked for both accountant positions and interns. However, Director of Accounting Dr. Phil Brown hoped to create even greater opportunities for his accounting students. “The demand is shooting up there,” Brown said. “I thought the opportunity to bring firms to campus would match the students’ desire to know that there are firms out there.” With help fromHarding’s Career Center, the Accounting Department created “Meet the Firms,” which was held on August 30, 2007. Fifteen accounting firms were represented as over 100 accounting majors gathered in Cone Chapel. Students were able to ask questions, get information about the companies and submit their resumés. “It was an opportunity for the firms to share something about themselves and their offices, their clients that they service, the kinds of positions that they’re looking for,” Brown said. “It allowed students to share some of their work experiences or where they are at in their academic pursuit.” For junior accounting major Philip Groves, “Meet the Firms” was a great opportunity to make connections in the accounting industry. “For me, I had to step out of my comfort zone for a while and put myself out there for any question they were going to throw at me,”Groves said. “But in the end, setting up relationships with those companies and getting my name out there was well worth it.” For the most part, older students were viewed as prospective employees, so the companies were interested in students nearing graduation. “If you were getting closer to graduating they were talking to you more about what kind of job opportunities they had,” Groves said. For senior Dusty Hanes, the event helped him in his search for job opportunities. “This event let all of us talk to a lot of different firms that were different sizes and in different locations,” Hanes said. “I think it had something for everyone.” However, students hoping to do an internship could also find great opportunities at “Meet the Firms.”Groves hoped to establish relationships with the firms in pursuit of an internship, and felt the entire opportunity was a success. “For me, it was a great learning experience because it got me to where I could feel comfortable with people in that position,”Groves said. “But also, it helped inform me about the different industries and about the companies.” Brown said responses from the different firms were excellent. The representatives were able to show students what their firms had to offer. Brown hoped that in the years to come,“Meet the Firms”would continue to grow in order to provide great opportunities for Harding students. “Basically, the event really made me feel good about being an accounting major and about my career choice,”Hanes said. “Some people are coming out of school with no idea what they’re going to do or where, and I already have an offer and lots of other prospects.” [Hannah Ware]
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