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Partnership brings jobs to grads Photo by Bob Pennell Jens Verloop graduated from SOU with a master�s degree in business administration in 1997, and is now a marketing manager at Jackson and Perkins. By Sara Murphy Southern Oregon University and Bear Creek Corp. each has something the other wants: employees and employment. They�re playing the dating game: learning about each other�s needs, working on communication skills and spending more time with one another without making any exclusive commitments. Officially termed "the relationship," the corporate courtship has been budding for about three years and is finally beginning to bloom. Job search tips The Boy Scouts had good advice for job seekers Jim Hayek is not impressed by padded resumes. Or sloppy clothes. Or people who waste his time. As Bear Creek Corp.�s vice president for executive human resources, Hayek says the key to catching his attention � from the job fair to the interview � is to BE PREPARED. The motto works for the Boy Scouts, he says, and it will work for job-seekers too. Here�s a few more tips for catching a recruiter�s attention: Dress beyond the position. "It�s kind of clich�, but you only have one opportunity to make a first impression." Know what you have to offer. "I run into a lot of people who say, �I can do anything,� " Hayek says. "No, you can�t." Be realistic and specific about your skills. Resumes and cover letters should be brief. "People need to assume they have maybe 60 seconds of my attention." Ask if the company prefers electronic resumes. "I would rather have something online than a piece of paper." Focus on skills. "�Good with people�; so is my dog," Hayek says. "That doesn�t tell me anything." List your current information first. Reverse chronological order. Follow up. "It shows they planned enough to know how to find me to follow up," says Hayek. A call may prompt him to give your resume a second look. Prepare for the interview. "The opportunity to find out about companies now is so easy with the Internet," Hayek says. "When somebody comes in here and says, �I know you pick pears, what else do you do,� that tells me they�re not prepared to be an executive at our company." Ask questions. "What I get most impressed about is when somebody walks in with a pad of paper and they already have questions written down," Hayek says. "They may never get to them, but at least they thought ahead." "There�s been a positive relationship for a long time, although there haven�t been a lot of specific activities as a result of it," says Debra Ponzoha, vice president of learning and organization development for Bear Creek "It�s only been the last couple of years that we�ve tried to put some meat on the bones, so to speak," she adds. Thanks in large part to the Internet, business is booming for Bear Creek, the Medford-based parent corporation for Harry and David, Jackson and Perkins and Northwest Express catalog companies. "They�ve said at any given time they could hire 30 managers if they could find the right people," says John Laughlin, dean of the SOU School of Business. Business is the single largest major at SOU, accounting for some 700 students. And, Laughlin says, enrollment�s on the rise. That means more SOU students are looking for jobs � particularly with an emphasis in marketing or management. Conveniently, those are two major recruitment areas for Bear Creek. "We�re both big fish in a small pond in some ways," Laughlin says. The relationship is about building a bridge. "They have a position for just about any one of our graduates if the fit�s right," Laughlin says. The relationship manifests itself in a number of ways, says Rudd Johnson, senior vice president of human resources for Yamanouchi Consumer Inc., Bear Creek�s parent company. "We increase our internships each year. It�s a key strategy," Johnson says. "SOU is one of the first places we go for recruiting." Bear Creek emphasizes training and promotion, Johnson says. The alternative is to conduct extensive searches for people who are already advanced in their careers � a process that costs both time and money. Professors from the SOU business school helped Bear Creek develop its internal training school, Bear Creek Academy, in 1998. SOU Executive Dean Mary Ellen Fleeger continues to sit on the academy board. SOU graduates also make up the bulk of the academy�s Executive Development Program, a 10-week management training course that seeks a mix of university recruits and internal candidates for promotions. One of the 20 SOU graduates to complete the program is Jens Verloop, who earned his master�s degree in business administration in 1997. At 28, Verloop is marketing manager for Jackson and Perkins. He says he wanted to work for a big corporation "since Day 1," but doesn�t want to live in a big city. Bear Creek, he says, provides business students with career opportunities in a variety of specialties � such as operations, financing or information technology � and is willing to train people who seem capable of handling the job. "One thing I really admire with Bear Creek is that they�re willing to take chances with young bucks such as myself," Verloop says, adding that he�s also impressed by the number of women in high-ranking positions. Verloop says he also appreciates that Bear Creek executives are accessible � from SOU career fairs to the Executive Development Program. "In career classes, that�s what they tell you, it�s all about networking," Verloop says. "And it really is." Bear Creek may not be the right career match for every student, Laughlin says, but the growing number of students snagging internships and landing jobs with the company are tangible evidence that the relationship is working. "That�s really the proof in the pudding," Laughlin says. "It�s not that we�re going to have a committee meeting once a month." Reach Ashland bureau reporter Sara Murphy at 482-4655, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.