At Daniels, market connectivity means opportunity is only a hallway away
It’s a bold statement, but very true: Daniels is as embedded with the business world as any school in the country. In fact, just walking down the hall can lead to a job or internship opportunity. It sounds like a stretch until you meet the students who have lived it.
At Daniels, market connectivity is a daily reality. Each year, Daniels welcomes more than 600 companies to campus for guest speaking engagements, coffee chats and hallway Meet & Greet events that put students face-to-face with the people who hire them—and sometimes, even with their future boss.
Behind that connectivity is a career services operation designed specifically for business students.
“Daniels Career Services is for the business school, and we provide a more tailored, curated career services experience compared to a standard university-wide career center,” explains Alison McCarty, senior director, Daniels Career Services. “The team works with students and alumni on everything from ‘What do I want to do with the rest of my life?’ questions all the way to salary negotiation.”
What really sets Daniels apart, McCarty says, is a required career class every undergraduate takes their sophomore year, in which students build resumes, polish their LinkedIn profiles, practice their elevator pitch and learn how to research a company.
“It’s all in support of them looking good when they approach an employer,” she adds.
Meet & Greets as a centerpiece
Daniels hosts roughly 40 Meet & Greets a year—sometimes four or five in a single week—with national firms such as Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PwC, plus local real estate and construction companies and others, setting up tables in high-traffic hallways, typically from 11 a.m.-2 p.m..
There’s no registration. Students simply walk up, introduce themselves, have a short discussion and often share a resume. “Nobody walks away with an offer,” McCarty notes. “But they walk away with contact information, the network and the ability to make an impression in person.”
For Dani Roney, that impression turned into a job with EY. A former pre-med student with an undergraduate degree in medical biology, Roney pivoted to business and is finishing a master’s degree in Business Analytics at Daniels.
Dani Roney
Coming from medicine, she felt a bit behind.
“Business is very much a who-you-know type of environment,” Roney says. “I met EY through a Meet & Greet in the hallway, and it gave me a face-to-face opportunity to fill in and articulate that gap.”
She connected with an EY recruiter who became a mentor, walking her through how the company hired. Roney then made herself impossible to forget, showing up at every EY event on campus—even after she’d landed an interview.
“I wanted to make sure people knew me for me rather than just my resume,” she says.
The result: a full-time offer, no internship required. She starts as a technology consulting staff member in EY’s SAP practice in October, after completing her classwork over the summer.
Maria Clara Magrani Oliveira’s experience also began at a table in the hallway. A rising undergraduate senior pursuing a dual major in International Business and Real Estate with a concentration in Construction Management, she stopped to talk with a Wayfair recruiter who was a DU alum.
That conversation led her to Wayfair’s Early Leaders program and, eventually, an accelerated internship offer she signed nearly a year in advance. This summer she’s at Wayfair’s Boston headquarters on the curated merchandising team.
“It was incredible,” Magrani Oliveira says, “and all thanks to just stopping at a table.”
Both students offer advice for classmates eyeing the same path. Roney’s is about persistence.
“Be the face they keep seeing,” she says. “If there are five Meet & Greets, make sure you go to each one, even if it’s only for five to 10 minutes. Bring your resume every time.”
Beyond showing up, Roney urges students to lead with what makes them unique. “Understand what makes you different. Leading with that helps you stand out in the crowd rather than just being another face and a number,” Roney adds.
Magrani Oliveira’s advice centers on preparation.
“Have some questions ready and do some research on the company you’re going to meet with,” she says. “Keep your resume current and practice talking about yourself.”
She’s also a believer in the workshops Career Services offers, from interview prep to resume help.
“Preparation beforehand is what helps the most,” she adds.
The takeaway from both? At Daniels, opportunity is often just a hallway away—but it rewards the students who walk up and say hello.
Companies interested in hosting a Meet & Greet at Daniels can find additional information at: https://daniels.du.edu/recruiters-companies/recruiters/.