Subject: a & a math majors
vince ,
thank you so much for meeting with me friday morning about the research
group .
after leaving your office , i remembered an issue i have had with the analyst
& associate program that might be of interest to you .
during a texas a & m recruiting meeting , i learned that we have expanded our
list of majors to include computer science . i wondered why math majors were
not mentioned , and was told that there was not a business need for math
majors . like liberal arts majors , they said math majors were only considered
on a person by person basis . in my opinion , math majors have many of the
same skills as finance majors , and can easily adjust to accounting rotations
as well ( i did last summer , and finance majors in the program are forced to
every year . ) i think that enron is missing out on many qualified candidates
by limiting their recruitment effort .
at texas a & m the career center asks companies for a list of majors they are
targeting , and only allows those majors to sign up for interviews through the
career center . i sent my resume to enron and asked to be included in the
interview process on campus . however , many other math majors had not heard
of enron or the other companies , and assumed that there was no place for a
math major at a company like enron . many math majors want to continue their
education , become teachers , or work for an actuarial firm . however , many
are undecided . we are constantly told of the many business possibilities
available to math majors by our teachers and staff , but many undergraduates
are still not sure exactly what math majors can contribute in a business
environment . by not mentioning math majors to the career center ( a very
simple and inexpensive step ) , enron is losing out on a very talented pool of
people . while it would be nice to get the math majors that knew about enron
already , had thoroughly researched all companies and determined that math
majors would fit perfectly , and went the extra step to send enron their
resume outside the career center system , there are many qualified students
who do not do this , and opt for other companies who did mention math majors .
i called a manager in the a & a program to suggest that we consider at least
mentioning math majors to the career centers . i realize that it may cost
more to actively pursue them , talk to teachers , and attend math society
events . however , i told her that including them at the career center would
be very inexpensive for enron . she reiterated that they saw no business need
for math majors , and that if more upper level people began requesting them ,
it would be considered . i searched for " mathematics " on the enron job
website , and had a surprising number of results . i know that your group
could use math majors as well . however , this still may be too small a number
to merit a focus from the a & a recruiting department . i just wanted to bring
it to your attention in case it was something that you felt should be changed .
thanks ,
heather johnson
x 53240