Getting Your Foot Inside the Door

The Job Fair ended about 45 minutes ago. Business students dominated the scene as they circulated the USU Ballroom, encouraging corporate heads and representatives alike to check out their résumés, or maybe just their polished Italian boots.

Vince Hamamoto, a finance manager at Raytheon in El Segundo, said that looking good on paper, or in person, helps, but students need to be able to multi-task—managing major accounts, spearheading operations, leading meetings, and so on. Even more crucial in today's fast-paced world: students who are looking to enter such a competitive atmosphere must come with the passion to learn.

"We're looking for students who love challenges, so that they can broaden their experiences. And somebody who wants to learn," Hamamoto said.

Hamamoto, an experienced specialist and professional in his field, used a metaphor to describe today's business world. "It's like a 'pop-up' box you see on your computer screen: things happen and change so fast, there's always a variety of events." When I asked him what a typical day at his office was like, he simply replied, "There is no typical day."

Raytheon, by the way, is a billion-dollar corporation that specializes in engineering technology in defense and aerospace systems, which means they are always looking to recruit the brightest graduating students.

Some of the various representatives visiting CSULB today came from several, diverse fields. There were hundreds of booths! Here's a list of some of the companies you could've encountered at the fair:


Raytheon Co.
CA Franchise Tax Board
CA State Auditor
IRS
Balboa Capitol
Comerica Bank
World Financial Grp.
Trilogy Financial Svcs.Wescom Credit Union

What did you gain from the experience?
Who did you meet? What companies did you make a connection with?
Did you land a job with anyone?
Some times these kinds of events widen our views on what's out there. Did this occur to you today?

For more, please visit the Career Development Center's Web site Career Development Center's Web site

Making Connections: Listing of Groups at the CBA

Here is a list of the several student-run groups that meet at the CBA:

AMA American Marketing Association
Meetings on Monday @ 5pm, in CBA 235
Contact: ama_zing49@yahoo.com

BAP Beta Alpha Psi Accounting Society
Meetings on Mondays and Wednesdays @ 12 to 12:25pm and 12:35 to 12:55pm, respectively, in CBA 218
Contact: bap@csulb.edu

BBSA Black Business Students Association
Meetings on Thursday @ 5:30pm, CBA 124

DSP Delta Sigma Pi

FMA Financial Management Association
FMA on MySpace

HSBA Hispanic Students Business Association
HSBA on MySpace
Contact: csulbhsba@yahoo.com

HRMA Human Resource Management Association
Meetings on Wednesday @ 12:30pm to 1:30pm, in USU 205
HRMA on MySpace

ISSA Information Systems Student Association
Meetings on every other Tuesdays @ 5:30pm, in CBA 112

IBA International Business Association

Law Society
Meetings on Wednesday @ 12:30pm to 1:30pm, in USU 306
Law Society on MySpace

PAC RIM Pacific Rim Association

SA-->M Society for Advancement of Management

On Display: A Jaunt to the CBA

The trip to the College of Business Administration from where I consider the heart of the university, from the corridors that surround the University Student Union, or simply the Campus Center, takes just a few minutes. You'd have to go down the escalators and through the balconies that shape the cavity of that jazzy turquoise swimming pool and follow the path out through the mouth of those corridors and you'll know you're in the right place when you see students waiting for their shuttle ride. Brotman Hall's fuzzy, misty fountains and those lush landscapes on the other side mark the middle point of the walk. After that it is an easy, pretty stroll through a long, wide concrete ramp that will eventually lead you past the University Art Museum and straight to the college where it's all about business. It's not too far from the Pyramid in distance or design. This building—the house of accountancy, finance, and many other serious studies—is quite beautiful in its entire dark, blocky, geometrical exterior.

Inside the building I encountered an interesting collection of plaques that adorn the outside walls of classrooms and lecture halls (which I will later on report on regarding their significance), a rainbow of flyers, and hallways where a certain 2005 award is still being celebrated. Here is my collection of images portraying my trip. The very last photos were taken at a meeting with the school's American Marketing Association and their guest speaker, Tom Meyer. (All photos taken by Barbara Navarro on Monday, Oct. 16.)