According to the Career Development Office, over 1,000 students attended the events of Pomona’s Career Week, a weeklong series of workshops and panels that culminated in the Second Annual Career Fair. Representatives from 47 companies were present in the Edmunds Ball Room two Fridays ago. The event garnered mixed reviews from students.

The workshops were held on such topics as "Internships: What are all of the Options?"; "How to Give a Great Interview"; and how to break into fields like business, entertainment, and not-for-profits. They were attended by about 520 students, from freshmen to seniors. Additionally, a resumé doctor was on call at the career fair in order to assist students wishing to give some final touches to their resumé.

Joe Tamas Director Carl Martellino and his staff at the CDO worked 12-15 hours a day in the final days preceeding the Second Annual Career Fair.

According to the Career Week Guide, employers such as CBS, FedEx, Teach for America, and the United States Marine Corps Officer Selection Office set up tables at the career fair, which was attended by around 500 students. It was open to students from all five colleges, although the students attending were primarily from Pomona. Companies present spanned fields such as entertainment, education, business, marketing, environment and government. The largest group, however, was the non-profit sector, comprising about a third of the employers present.

Carl Martellino, director of the Office of Career Development, explained that following the career fair, students are to be contacted by prospective employers concerning further interviews.

Feedback from employers was overwhelmingly positive. Representatives were given evaluation forms to fill out at the completion of the fair, and all of them rated the fair as excellent, according to Martellino. "I had a great time at the fair. I already can’t wait to attend next year’s event," commented Jason Queseda, the representative from Millward Brown Interactive.

Student feedback was not as unequivocal. "I thought it was a fairly good selection of business and not-for-profits, [but] the one place that I was interested in didn’t seem interested in my application," Claire Bergen ’01 said.

"I feel like the CDO caters too much to politics and economics majors," Paul Dahlgren ’01 complained.

Brian Akaka ’01 was even more critical. "Before I went to the career fair," he complained, "I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. After I left, I really had no idea. It was really no help at all."

Derek Ishikawa ’01 thought that the fair’s "timing was a bit off. It should have been held last semester." Accordingly, a number of students said that they did not attend because they already had jobs.

Martellino stressed that Career Week was a valuable experience for members of all four classes. Many of the companies present offered internships, and the workshops on specific fields and careers were informative for underclassmen. A number of underclassmen signed in at these workshops.

Career Week was the result of months of planning by the CDO, according to Martellino. Not only did much effort go into the coordination and planning of the events, but many companies will only commit a year ahead of time. As the week drew closer, "we worked 12-15 hours a day, the whole staff," Martellino said.

Martelino estimated that Career Week had a total budget of close to $6,000, with about $1,000 of that going towards advertising. None of that money, however, came from Pomona College. Employers were charged a fee for the right to set up a table at the career fair–although a large discount was given to small not-for-profit companies. Additionally, money for the fair was raised by selling ads to employers in the career week brochures.

Despite the success of this year’s events, next year’s Career Week may be scaled down, due to the sheer amount of work that goes into planning and execution. Said Martellino, "We had a lot of fun putting it on, but it was a tremendous amount of work for a staff of four."