recruiting really hasn't gotten going that much yet. Up until now its been information gathering and networking. Resume drops have begun for some companies but most arent until after new years. I will be writing many many cover letters over the next few weeks and reaching out to lots of alums.
Honestly, anyone that says recruiting is going great is either really lucky (star student) or full of it. This year is going to be tough, and for some its going to be very painful. Overall recruiting is a painful process anyways...even highly successful people get rejected by companies. That said, there are tons of opportunities here in a lot of fields.
As for what students are doing, people seem to have run away from banking in big numbers (1st years recruiting this year are about 25% the size of last years recruiting class for IB)...MC is up but since it was much bigger here the numbers aren't that different. Marketing is up somewhat from what I have been told but companies seem to be targeting the same number of total internships (fewer fulltime though so they hired heavily from interns). Marketing isnt as hard if you are flexible with location, some great companies are in not so popular areas so they have a harder time attracting students. If you want diageo in NYC its going to be much harder than another well known booze brand in tenessee.
Some areas the outlook is actually sounding a little better. I am going for energy and it sounds fairly promising at some companies, more of the smaller ones are starting to show up as are clean energy (solar and wind)...more often off campus but still actively looking. Bio and pharma are going strong, healthcare in general should be a positive area since its not nearly as affected by the economy...
Next year might have some very interesting developments depending on what Obama does. If he floods money into healthcare and energy, some people might be very well positioned to score amazing jobs and people who recently entered could see big career advancement opportunities. However, it could go the other way...moral of the story is what its like this year is no indication of what it will be like for you so dont worry.
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Kellogg Class of 2010...still active and willing to help. However, I do not do profile reviews, don't offer predictions on chances and am far to busy to review essays, so save the energy of writing me a PM seeking help for these. If I don't respond to a PM that is not one of the previously mentioned trash can destined messages, please don't take it personally I get so many messages I have a hard to responding to most. The more interesting, compelling, or humorous you message the more likely I am to respond.