By James Babb, President, Supply Chain Management Association, MBA Class of 2019
The Center for Supply Chain Research at the Penn State Smeal College of Business put together another great event this January 30th and 31st. The Spring Supply Chain Career Fair was a very productive outing for MBAs looking for exposure and job opportunities with elite employers. The event was filled with companies of all sizes and from all industries seeking to increase their levels of supply chain talent, and MBA candidates at Smeal had ample opportunity to advance their careers with internships or permanent roles.
For first-year MBA candidates, the focus was on corporations interested in getting future leaders into their organizations through summer internships that would ideally convert into permanent careers after graduation. On the other hand, second-year MBA candidates were targeting those firms looking for elite-level supply chain talent to hit the ground running in May of this year in a permanent position. Both classes of MBAs were invited to attend the Supply Chain Management Association’s mixer on the night of January 29th, just before the first day of the career fair. This was a unique opportunity for recruiters and MBA candidates to talk in a more social setting, paving the way for good conversations in the following days during the career fair and potentially during subsequent interviews.
Many firms scheduled interviews with MBAs to move the process forward while recruiters were on campus for the event, while other companies were interested mostly in getting to know candidates and putting faces to the many names they had seen on resumes submitted on SmealConnect, the College’s careers portal. Candidates interviewing on campus could expect varying timetables for recruiters’ hiring processes. In some cases, the on-campus interviews after the career fair would be the final step in their recruiting process, while in other cases it was a preliminary interview that would lead to additional steps.
The Supply Chain Management Association would like to thank the Center for Supply Chain Research (CSCR) for all its hard work making this event possible. We would also like to thank all the recruiters for making the effort to visit Smeal, with a special thanks to our CSCR Corporate Sponsors and our Smeal Career and Corporate Connection Partners. We look forward to seeing you all this coming August at the Fall Supply Chain Career Fair, and we invite you to connect with MBAs at the Supply Chain Management Association’s mixer which will be held the evening immediately prior to this fall’s event.