Let's Talk Numbers: Owen Class of '09 Summer Internships

Rushing between project launches and group meetings back at Accelerator, I had a chance to pop in to speak with CMC Director, Joyce Rothenberg about how the numbers played out for the Class of 2009 and their summer internships.

Overall, the Class of 2009 faired well with 98% of all Owen students looking for internships finding MBA-level opportunities this summer. This number takes into consideration information that has been reported, by students, to the CMC and Joyce is careful to mention that the CMC doesn't consider its job quite done. She cites that the CMC is still fielding calls from potential employers that are looking to source summer MBA talent, even if it is for shorter projects rather than 10-12 week internships.

It's interesting to note that Joyce was more than willing to share information - with the understanding that it would appear here on OwenBloggers - about the job of helping over 200 students find internships in one of the most complex job markets the economy has seen in a while. To me, that says a lot about the way the Owen exists in the MBA marketplace and the emphasis they are placing on creating a better career management mechanism for Owen students and alumni.

In particular for 20080-2009, the CMC wants to put greater resources in the hands of students, starting with the recent purchase of access for Owen Students to the "Going Global" job database featuring access to job and internship listings, world-wide. The CMC staff are also planning trips across the US to form new relationships with corporate recruiters. Finally there are even mummers of testing an application that may replace OCNS, the database and job search system that currently serves as their IT system.

While everyone may not agree about the role of the CMC in their personal internship/job search, one thing is for certain; they are serious about putting tools in place to diversify options for Owen students.

In fact, what would be on your "wish list" for new CMC tools in 2008-2009?

Technorati Tags: CMC, Joyce Rothenberg, Owen, Owen Graduate School of Management, Career Management Center, Vanderbilt University

Comments

[Edward Safaryan]

I would like to inform the prospective students as well as all the readers that while CMC's primary function is to establish future business relationships with companies that will eventually transfer into job and internship opportunities, CMC does not live up to its expectatations. yes, there are internship and job opportunities, but they all seem to have a very similar pattern-they all originate from very regional, very Southeastern companies. CMC fails to provide real option diversity, whether geographic or functional. This post is intended to inform the reader that in Owen to get a quality internship or a job opportunity, one should definitely look beyond the scope of CMC's availability and network, network and network. I would strongly recommend working closely with Tricia Carswell and Peter Veruki. They do everything possible to actually connect with alumni and potential employers from all over the country. but as far as CMC goes, do not get your hopes up, that is if you want a quality opportunity.