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Enron Mail |
Sally,
Thanks for the e-mail regarding summer interns. I apologize that Lexi and= =20 Shelly were unable to provide you with the answers you were seeking. I wis= h=20 that you had contacted either Celeste or me to indicate that you were havin= g=20 difficulty. I have personally assured you on several occasions that I was= =20 available to either speak with you or meet with you if for some reason any= =20 member of my staff was not responsive. That being said please allow me to= =20 explain the recruiting strategy since I was instrumental in helping to set = it. You are absolutely correct. It is great to do market research if time=20 permits or it is regarding an issue of which we have little knowledge. As= =20 you are aware, over the past year we have engaged a professional recruiting= =20 firm (Brecker & Merryman) who has assisted us in a number of different mark= et=20 research projects. However, in my opinion, this issue is not one that=20 required much research. I have been involved in recruiting in some way,=20 shape or form at both the graduate and undergraduate level for the past 10= =20 years. Most major organizations, with the exception of the Accounting firm= s,=20 begin the summer intern recruiting process in early spring. There are=20 actually some universities that do not allow recruitment of summer interns= =20 until after a certain date, particularly in the MBA programs. For example,= =20 Harvard does not allow an organization to come on campus and speak to first= =20 year students until January. As indicated, the firms that generally recrui= t=20 in the fall are the Accounting firms and they are primarily recruiting for= =20 "spring" internships. The recruiting strategy at Enron is no different this year than it was last= =20 year with respect to summer interns. Presentations were made in January &= =20 February and offers were made in February and March. The only school that= =20 did not follow the normal process was OU under the direction of George Hope= . =20 We did, of course, recruit summer interns in the fall for the tax group=20 because they are competing directly with the Accounting Firms. Utilizing this strategy did not impair Enron=01,s ability to hire quality s= ummer=20 interns. This past summer Enron had 76 summer Analysts (undergraduate) and= =20 40 summer Associates (graduate). We intentionally limited the number of=20 summer hires to ensure that the individuals hired received meaningful=20 assignments. Approximately 85% of these individuals received permanent=20 offers to join Enron. =20 The reason Enron has not had a problem recruiting quality undergraduate=20 summer interns is primarily because many organizations do not hire=20 undergraduates for summer positions. They generally focus on MBAs,=20 particularly the investment banks and consulting firms which are the firms= =20 that Jeff Skilling identifies as Enron's competitors. Because the=20 undergraduates are not actively recruited by our competition we have=20 continued to have a special focus on these individuals (i.e. the reason the= re=20 were 76 undergraduates and only 40 MBAs). With respect to OU and UT specifically since those were the schools about= =20 which you raised a concern, let me address your concerns. In your e-mail y= ou=20 indicated that you had research conducted at UT and OU. You did not howeve= r,=20 provide the results of the research or the person to whom they had spoken= =20 therefore I had Lexi Elliott contact both UT and OU. While OU has not gotten back to her, following is the information obtained= =20 from UT. o The contact at UT Career Services is Cindy Henson. =20 o According to Cindy, approximately 5% of companies actively recruiting on= =20 campus conduct interviews in the fall for "summer" internships. Cindy=20 attributes this to the fact that these companies cannot come in the spring= ,=20 or, in the case of Andersen Consulting, have a tremendous need and conduct= =20 all interviews at one time. =20 o In conclusion, Cindy estimated that 95% of companies actively recruiting = on=20 campus recruit in the spring for summer internships. We have not received information from OU therefore I am unable to provide t= he=20 statistics at this time. I will provide as soon as I am in receipt of such= =20 information. =20 It appears that the information your source obtained is considerably=20 different than what we were told. If you would provide the name of the=20 individual to whom they spoke I will follow up to determine the reason for= =20 the discrepancies. While I understand your concern with respect to OU, they appear to be=20 different than most of the other schools at which we recruit. If you belie= ve=20 that it is critical to recruit summer interns at OU in the fall we are=20 supportive; however, because Lexi has other school interviews that are=20 already scheduled she will not be in a position to facilitate the interview= =20 process during the trip you have scheduled currently. As you are aware, in= =20 most instances, the dates for presentations and interviews are dictated by= =20 the respective universities and were secured in early August. If you would= =20 like for her to try and secure an interview schedule for a later date this= =20 fall she can certainly work with your schedule and her current schedule to= =20 support your efforts. I hope this has been helpful. I can understand and appreciate your=20 frustration if you are not getting answers from the recruiter or her=20 manager. Again, I offer that I am available and willing to work with you i= f=20 you are having difficulty with members of the Program staff. =20 Please let me know what you decide about recruiting this fall for summer=20 interns and whether I can be of any additional assistance. Charlene
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