It doesn't seem so long ago that John Markels, EG '86, was looking for his first job as a chemical engineer. Now, he's recruiting a fresh crop of UD students to join him at Merck Pharmaceuticals, where he's been employed for 14 years.

Since 1993, Markels has led Merck's UD recruitment team, a position he inherited from Mike King, EG '81/PhD, who interviewed and hired Markels through UD's Campus Interview Program. King is now senior vice president for science and technology at Merck, while Markels is director of technical operations. "We have a long history of extremely successful Delaware graduates at Merck," says Markels. "It's been a win-win situation for Merck, the University and the Department of Chemical Engineering."

Markels starts the recruitment process by hiring students for summer internships after their freshman, sophomore and junior years. This, he says, helps identify talented individuals as early as possible and begins to familiarize them with the company's operations. The Merck recruiting team then participates in job fairs on campus and makes presentations about the company to interested students. The Campus Interview Program is the final step in the recruiting process.

Dan Iampietro,
EG '99/PhD, who joined Merck's Chemical Engineering Research and Development Department last August, gained his first exposure to the company at an open house that Markels' team hosted on campus. There, UD graduates with B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees gave presentations about their work at Merck. With his interest piqued, Iampietro began checking the interview schedule online each week to see when the company would be on campus. When the time came, he dropped off his resumé, was called for an interview and later received an offer. "The Career Services Center made it much easier to get interviews on campus," Iampietro says. "I was doing a lot of work toward writing my thesis and didn't have as much time to spend on the job search. They did a lot of the legwork, which was nice, from my perspective."

Another Merck hire, Natalie Paolantonio, EG '99, started her job search by attending resumé writing and interview preparation courses at the end of her junior year. She was then well-prepared to greet recruiters at UD's Job Jamboree in the fall of her senior year. It was there that she found out about Merck and numerous other potential employers. "That was phenomenal, because it happens before the Campus Interview Program, so you know if the companies you're interested in are coming to campus," she explains.

Paolantonio ended up with about 15 first-round interviews and received offers from at least two employers after second interviews. Merck, she decided, would give her the best opportunity to experience different aspects of the chemical engineering profession. Working in Markels' department--Technical Operations--she helps support the manufacture of the painkiller Vioxx. She also has joined the Merck recruiting team, and attended her first Job Jamboree as a recruiter last September. "It was harder than I thought it would be," says Paolantonio. "You have to answer a lot of questions and also be able to ask the right questions when you only have five minutes to talk. But, I enjoyed it and look forward to doing it again."

With Merck's history of highly successful UD graduates, Iampietro and Paolantonio can look forward to promising careers. And, Markels says he hopes to keep the flow of UD graduates coming. The University's seamless implementation of its new online recruiting system has put UD at an advantage, he says. "I am in touch with Merck recruiters at other schools, and Delaware is right at the top in terms of its recruiting program," he says. "The Career Services Center is a place where everybody's motivations align. It's a
win-win for everyone." *
?? –Sharon Huss Roat AS '87