Recruiters Are Bullish on CSUN Class of 1985

One student brought his skateboard and several wore cut-off shorts, but the bulk of the class of 1985 had its adult face on Wednesday when 86 employers came to California State University, Northridge, to recruit graduating students.

It was a day when seniors peered into their future in the working world--and came away flattered that the working world seemed interested in them.

It was a day of serious talk about “highly competitive entry-level salaries,” “career paths” and “hiring modes.” And it was a day when many seniors wore business suits--some for the first time on campus.

‘Recession Years Behind Us’

This year’s annual career fair was upbeat because the 3,000 seniors who will graduate in May are entering the “strongest job market in years,” said Margaret Sorenson, associate director of career planning at Northridge.

The turnout of employers was up six from a year ago, she said, adding, “The recession years are behind us, and now there are plenty of job offers.”

Indeed, most recruiters were bullish, typically urging seniors to sign onto a bright future with their firm. They asked no commitments, merely encouraging students to make appointments for job interviews this spring.

Not surprisingly, high-tech firms drew the most attention, although insurance companies, including The Travelers, Prudential and Transamerica, seemed to be close behind in student interest.

Representatives of high-tech firms said graduates with degrees in engineering or other sciences will earn about $28,000 a year to start, while firms that hire students with degrees in liberal arts and business usually pay about $17,000 a year to start.

Marilyn Condran of Lear Siegler Inc., a Santa Monica-based aerospace firm, said her company was in a “hiring mode” and planned to hire about 20 people with engineering or computer degrees this year.

High Grades ‘Just One Factor’

Although Northridge students are not reputed to be as brilliant as their counterparts at UC Berkeley or Caltech, Condran said she thought several of her firm’s new employees would come from the Northridge campus.

High grades, she said, are “just one factor. We also look at character traits, work experience and the particular curriculum taken.”

“You bet we’re hiring,” said Bob Fitch of Travelers, who was extolling the benefits of his firm’s training program for claims representatives. By day’s end, he had collected a stack of resumes.

“The only problem I’m having is that some of our jobs are back East,” he said. “On a day like today, how do you talk to kids about going back to Hartford, Conn., to work?”

Travelers is among a handful of firms that has traditionally hired significant numbers of Northridge graduates.

Fitch said this year his company will hire up to eight Northridge seniors, most of them liberal arts majors.

Bullock’s department stores, which last year included five Northridge graduates among 40 management trainees, plans to continue hiring from the school, said Gene Ross, a Bullock’s recruiter.

The firm hires students with degrees in liberal arts and business for its management training program.

Arsha Beylerian, who graduated with a degree in business two years ago, married and had a baby, was back on campus for career day, dressed in a fashionable business suit.

She talked intently with recruiters about a career and said she was “pretty much encouraged” by the response she got from insurance company representatives.

Because he forgot it was career day, Ty Vonhoetzendorff, a senior in marketing, came to school Wednesday in his usual garb--faded jeans, T-shirt and sneakers.

He also brought his skateboard, which he said “got a few funny looks, but hey, most of them will still talk to you. I’m finding out what I want to” about sales jobs.

Rhett Dunn, a senior in finance, said that after talking to several representatives, he was “convinced there are jobs around. Now I’m looking for a multinational firm so I can travel and see the world.”