On Thursday, Sept. 8, the Center for Professional Excellence (CPE) hosted the ninth annual Meet the Firms job fair. The event was designed to connect accounting, finance and information systems students to potential employers across the nation. This year, representatives from firms in Nashville, Tennessee; Dallas, Texas and Portland, Oregon were in attendance.
Over 28 firms with more than 80 recruiters set up booths in Cone Chapel. Nearly 150 students were in attendance. Before the event, students were offered the chance to submit a resume to the CPE. Every year, CPE compiles a resume book. Every employer at Meet the Firms received a copy of the students’ submitted resumes for reference.
Austin White, a fifth-year accounting and information systems major, attended Meet the Firms his sophomore and junior years. He said the entire process is geared toward connecting students to firms in a way that allows students to pursue their individual interests.
“Essentially, what you’re able to do is meet people face-to-face and look for opportunities that seem interesting,” White said. “The real benefit is you get face-to-face contact with people who typically have Harding connections, so many of them will be returning students.”
Bringing together students and employers who will likely be compatible is one of the elements that makes Meet the Firms a successful event.
“My junior year, I met some people from a firm in Nashville,” White said. “When I interviewed with them a few weeks later, two of the three guys I interviewed with were in TNT, which is the social club I’m in. So it was an easy connection because they’d been at Harding before and they understood where I was coming from. We immediately had that solidarity, which makes it easier for a student, I think.”
Brian Harrington, the director of CPE, said the main goal of his job is to help students succeed, and Meet the Firms is an example of one way CPE aims to achieve that mission.
“Our office aims to help business students do things like refine their resumes, perfect elevator pitches and ultimately find internships and full time jobs,” Harrington said. “Meet the Firms is just one of the ways we do that.”
In addition to Meet the Firms, CPE already has 40 events planned for this school year. The primary goal of the office is to help business students, but Harrington says students from all areas of campus are welcome to use CPE as a resource.
A complete calendar of all upcoming CPE events is accessible by creating a COBA Link account through the CPE office, which is located in the Mabee building.
