I just attended and spoke at the annual conference which is the largest gathering of MBA career services professionals and MBA recruiters in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  It was a great conference and I learned a lot and I wanted to share with you my take away.  

- Many schools are trying to help out Asian, especially international students, but they are very much frustrated with lack of options

- Compared to their academic credentials and qualifications, they severely lack "soft skills" which are critical to securing best jobs possible.  Schools feel that not enough is done to improve their soft skills and looking for better ways to help them improve.

- There are many other ways to secure offers in addition to speaking with HR (recruiters) at the companies.  Networking with those who work for the target companies is identified as the most important effort.  

- I spoke at the session titled, "how to maximize the benefit of attending diversity conferences".  At the session, the most important topic that came up was that.. students don't prepare enough before attending the conference, including conducting research, prioritizing the target companies, registering early to allow companies to search the resume database, and sharpening their interview skills.

Since Asian student population represent at a significant portion of their student body, those attending the conference had a significant interests in matters relating to Asian students.  A lot of discussions are taking place and better ways of helping them are being actively sought.  I hope all us can work together to help out Asian students in a meaningful and effective way. Please feel free to reach out to me or post something if you have any suggestions or start a dialogue.

Jino