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University Daily Kansan Wednesday, Feb. 10, 1965
Time Runs Short for Seniors Seeking Jobs
By Lee Byrd
Job-hungry seniors take note, your time is running out.
That's the concern of I. N. Bowman, employment placement director of the School of Business, who oversees the job interview program at KU.
"February and March are our heaviest months," Bowman said. "That's when most companies are looking for personnel."
EVEN THOUGH time is short there are still job opportunities. Bowman pointed out that over 100 companies would have representatives conducting interviews on campus with prospective salaries higher than ever.
Bowman stated that KU graduates could expect to gain salaries equal to or higher than national averages.
"Salaries increase at a stable rate each year," Bowman said. "According to the National College Placement Council, of which KU is a member, many current salaries are up 10 to 20 dollars per month over those of last year."
Although the placement service is an organ of the School of Business, it encourages all KU students to take advantage of its facilities. To apply for an interview, a student merely needs to fill out a questionnaire which is available in the placement office on the second floor of Summerfield.
"THEE IS no obligation other than the student show up for the interview for which he has signed," Bowman said.
"Although most businesses are looking for candidates who will have business degrees, we could certainly help a lot more students in other areas if they would just come to us," he said.
"The ratio of business students to those from other parts of the University is about 20 to one," he continued. "I'm afraid that many students, especially from the College, just don't know our service is available."
THE OFFICE also maintains literature on most major U.S. businesses and companies, especially those which consistently conduct campus interviews.
Organizing job interviews is just one function of the placement service. Bowman often conducts meetings with various groups of students to help them prepare for job applications.
"It's possible for a student to research a company quite thoroughly with our materials," Bowman said. "This helps him both in selecting which companies he would like an interview from, and in the interview itself."
Sessions Open to Study Problems of Race Strife
Lawrence residents are participating in a drive to provide employment for minority groups.
The "Clearing House for Minority Group Employment" was originated to help Negro and Mexican-American citizens of Lawrence find employment, Mrs. Raymond Cerf, head of the program, said yesterday.
The listing service is primarily designed for townspeople but Negro and Mexican-American students can also use the service. The staff is not large enough to handle members of other minority groups, Mrs. Cerf said.
Students could benefit from the service because requests have been received for both full-time and part-time employees. Mrs. Cerf said.
The goal of the project, sponsored by the Lawrence Human Rights Commission, is to make the names and qualifications of members of these two groups available to local employers.
"Actually we are trying to provide a listing service rather than an employment center as such," Mrs. Corf explained. "This is why we have chosen to call it 'Community Employment Listings.'"
Formerly the service maintained regular office hours, now it is operated through an answering service. An applicant can make an appointment with Mrs. Cerf through the answering service and thereby obtain a personal interview at his or her convenience, she explained.
The major problem which the listing service has at the moment is a lack of applicants with the skills necessary to place them in jobs.
While the service serves mostly graduating seniors, Bowman said many juniors arrange interviews through his office for summer jobs. Often a junior will be able to get a summer job with a company which he wishes to work for permanently.
Bowman believes that his office can save job seeking students a lot of time. "It's really the simplest way to get a job I can think of," he said. "After all, the recruiters come right here and seek you out."
Sandra "Sandy" Townsend, Kansas City, Kan., junior, is trying to contact all KU women for the Reed and Barton Silversmith Company in their "Silver Opinion Competition" contest on campus.
If he does a good job during these months, a company may promise to employ him when he graduates.
"There is a lot of talk about companies looking for the 'balanced' person—one who may have a C average but who has been in a lot of activities." Browm continued. "Sometimes a representative will say he is looking for such people, but when I ask him what ultimately causes him to hire a student he'll smile and say 'graded.'"
"I know a lot of recruiters emphasize grades so much because it helps them justify any hum decisions they might make about the people they hire," Bowman said. "If one recruit doesn't do a good job, the recruiter can turn to his boss and say, 'Gee, I don't know why he didn't work out. He had such a fine grade average.'"
"DESPITE SOME popular notions to the contrary," Bowman said, "nearly all employers still attach primary importance to a student's grades."
"The Silver Opinion Competition" is a nation-wide contest in which college girls choose three patterns of china, silver, and glassware which seem to match best as table settings. Twelve designs of sterling silver and eight designs of glassware and china are featured as choices.
KU Student Runs Contest
BOWMAN SAID job interviews usually last 20 to 30 minutes with no additional time requirements. A few companies do administer tests or ask students to fill out extensive questionnaires.
"Individual approaches by company representatives vary," he said. "One recruiter I met recently starts each interview by taking the student's picture with a Polaroid camera."
"He says it helps him remember the student when he is reviewing his notes after all his interviews are complete. He's very polite about it though. He develops the picture on
Awards are given to the entries that most closely match the unanimous selections of the table setting judges, three editors of leading magazines.
the spot and hands it to the student for approval", Bowman explained. "If the student doesn't think the picture is fair, the representative will volunteer to destroy it and take another."
Dana Stevens, past placement director and currently assistant director of Aids and Awards, shared Bowman's concern over the short time left for seniors to take advantage of the placement service.
"DURING THE February-March period", said Stevens, "at least four major companies will have representatives on campus every day, and on some days there will be seven or more."
Stevens also pointed to the upward trend in opportunities and earnings. "A B. S. candidate can usually expect to make a starting salary of about $500," he said. "There are small increases every year, but the rate of increase has pretty much leveled off." Stevens recalled that starting salaries in 1961 were around $450, while in 1958 they were down to $300.
Some of the well-known companies visiting the campus this week include Texaco, J. C. Penny and Co., Trans World Airlines, Continental Oil, Ford Motor Company, and the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission.
Performer Cites Country's Theatre
"Yugoslavia's theaters have expanded tremendously since World War II," Mladja Veselinovic, KU's international guest lecturer and performer, said yesterday in a Speech and Drama Research Colloquium lecture.
Veselinovic, Secretary of the Yugoslav Center of the International Theater Institute, who is at KU as part of a cultural exchange program, said there are now 64 theaters in Yugoslavia in contrast to the pre-war figure of 14. "The demand for tickets to their performances by far exceeds the supply," he said, and he believed increasing competition from television and films is not likely to alter this.
IN HIS LECTURE on the growth of the Yugoslav theater, Veselinovic sketched the history of drama from Roman times to the present day. Drama and theater developed independently in the six states which form Yugoslavia today, with a distinct contrast between the southern states of Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro, and the northern states of Slovenia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina,
for the northern states were long occupied by Austria, with German the official language.
After World War II and the liberation of Yugoslavia, theater life changed completely. With governmental help new theaters were built and new companies formed. All theaters are now government subsidized, thus the price of tickets is low. Not only the Yugoslavs, but also many visitors from abroad are attracted by the wide repertoire of the theaters, which consists not only of classics, but also the work of many modern international writers.
THE LARGEST OF THE COMPANIES is the Yugoslav Drama Theatre in Belgrade, formed in 1948, of which Veselinovic himself is a member. This company has made several tours abroad, including England, France, and Russia.
FRESHMAN LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
Veselinovic and his wife Branka are filling the principle roles in the University production of Bertold Brecht's "Mother Courage," opening this Wednesday in the University Theatre, and continuing through Saturday, Feb. 13th.
First of two special programs featuring guest speakers and discussion leaders from faculty and administration leaders.
Speaker-Vice Chancellor Nichols Wed. Feb.10th----7:30 Union Building
For more information
Call: Betty Harrison — VI 2-1340 Kay Orth — VI 3-3120 Bill Robinson — VI 3-4102
PEOPLE TO PEOPLE
PEOPLE TO PEOPLE
AMERICAN STUDENTS ABROAD
TO
EUROPE
APPLICATIONS DUE
IN
PEOPLE TO PEOPLE
OFFICE BY FEB. 11th
IF NOT POSSIBLE,
CONTACT DALE SPAGUE
AT VI 3-6866