Learning the ins and outs of the BPO

According to Business Placement Office directors, students at the Kelley School of Business shouldn't have trouble finding internships this summer or jobs after graduation. The secret ingredient, they say, is POOPs.\nPOOPs, Professional Orientation Opportunity Programs, are a key element in a business major's quest for a job. Taken through X420, the senior-level class features lectures by employers who talk about their careers in different fields. Brent Atwater, associate director of student services at the BPO, said the program is unique. \n"Employers come in and talk about, say, what it's like to be a brand manager in Black & Decker," Atwater said. "I've never seen this kind of program anywhere. I already think it's the best, and I just got here."\nAtwater, who began working at the BPO five weeks ago, has worked as a consultant and an investment banker but said he was eager to work at IU because it gave him the opportunity to interact with students. \nAtwater said he knows of no other school that requires students to take two courses (X220 and X420) to use the BPO. \n"All the business students have to take these," Atwater said. "We start working with students in their sophomore years, encouraging internships. Fundamentally, what we do is create a relationship between students and companies."\nAtwater said this has made it easier than ever for students to find internships.\n"Most students, almost all, are finding internships," he said. "I think that anyone who pursues an internship with great zeal can find one, and it's gotten easier since more and more companies are coming to campus."\nThomas Rearick, associate director of employer services at the BPO, has the job of "recruiting the recruiters" -- asking them to come to IU to interview its students. He said it isn't difficult.\n"For the most part, employers want to come to IU," Rearick said. "They know how famous the Kelley School of Business is, how strongly ranked it is. So they're competing amongst themselves for our graduates." \nRoughly 400 businesses come to IU from Oct. 1 through Thanksgiving each year to interview seniors for prospective job offers, said Rearick. Students find jobs with companies such as the Big Five accounting firms, IBM and Microsoft, which he said is a new visiting company this year. \nWhile the BPO works mostly with business majors, Atwater and Rearick agreed that hiring liberal arts graduates is a growing trend among businesses. \n"Some things COAS majors are learning are vital to business," Atwater said. \n"It's true that what you're learning today will be obsolete in five years. Things like critical thinking, presentation, analytical skills and leadership skills are all really important in business. It's your learning ability that really counts, not your major."\nRearick agreed. \n"When I was a liberal arts grad 13 years ago, it was very difficult for me, as an economics major, to find a job. Now it's different. When companies come to us, they're mainly looking for business majors, but every so often we'll get someone who says, 'Hey, I'll talk to any major that's out there.' And if they want a specific major, like English, then we'll set them up with an English major." \nRearick added that because the BPO has so many business majors to deal with, it's hard to provide much for a COAS major, but the office does try. \n"COAS majors can learn a lot from our Web site, or they can take X220," he said.\nDavid Veatch, a sophomore and a business major, is enrolled in X220.\n"I think it's a great class," said Veatch. "It helps me get organized, and it taught me how to tailor my resume. It's a very good guide to getting a job." \nVeatch added that while the class has practical purposes such as teaching resume building and networking skills, he found it interesting as well. \n"I always enjoy the lectures, even though they're at eight in the morning," said Veatch. "The guest speakers are always interesting, even the accounting ones, and I don't like accounting at all"