Career Forum

Though there's more than eight months left until graduation, more than 1500 Harvard students crowded Memorial Hall yesterday to be recruited by everything from a blinking, whining Pac-Man machine to a team of special agents.

Representatives from 55 companies were on hand for Career Forum Day, the opening of a week of career related activities sponsored by the Office of Career Services and Off-Campus Learning (OCS-OCL).

This year's forum marked only the second year Harvard has held the event.

John Noble, coordinator of the forum, said the number of businesses participating in the program has almost doubled since last year.

The company recruiters used everything from the standard handouts to slick television promotions and free Pac-Man games to get Harvard students interested in their firms.

"I want to give out as much information as possible and at the minimum get some students interested in internships," said Andrew McGill of the Detroit News.

McGill, like other company representatives, was enthusiastic about Career, Forum Day. "I received tremendous student response--much better than I ever expected and I'm absolutely coming back next year."

And many students also praised the event "It's a good way to get information about a lot of companies--and it's all under one roof." Bruce Holley '84 said.