Nine Georgetown graduates traveled to New York City this November for job interviews at UBS Investment Bank, a highly competitive firm. All of them came away with job offers.

The nine students were placed into separate groups of five where they competed with students from other prestigious universities such as Harvard, MIT and Penn, for positions in the firm.

All Georgetown students were the first choices in their group.

Amy Hsueh (COL ’03) accounts some of her success to what she calls a “very unique” recruiting experience as part of the team of Georgetown students in the interview pods.

“The UBS Georgetown team provided a strong network of support within the firm,” Hsueh said. “They really understood the qualities that UBS was looking for in candidates and we proved that when the interviewers, from all different schools, thought we were good candidates.”

Hsueh thinks that the firm was ultimately looking for intelligent, well-spoken and confident candidates. She also believes that all of the graduates were lucky in that UBS was looking to expand the analyst class after poor hiring conditions for the past few years.

News of renewed hiring efforts by employers and the improving economy has given hope to thousands of college graduates frustrated with years of a lagging job market. According to a survey by CollegeGrad.com, entry level hiring was up by 4 percent this year.

Sylvia Robinson, executive director of the MBNA Career Research Center at Georgetown, has also heard a more positive tone from employers with regard to their recruiting on campus this year.

“While employers don’t give us a precise record of the job offers they have made to Georgetown students, we do know that more companies are coming on campus to recruit this year and recruiters tell us that they have more positions to fill than last year,” Robinson said.

CollegeGrad.com also found that more entry-level jobs are requiring some level of job experience, typically in the form of internships. Robinson encourages all students to pursue part-time jobs and internships to strengthen their resume.

“Recruiters tell us that students who have internship experiences on their resumes have a definite advantage in a competitive job market like this one,” Robinson said. “Through the experience gained during internships, students become more educated consumers as job seekers.”

Hsueh said she read finance guides in order to gain a better understanding of her analyst responsibilities. She also said she went in knowing what the company might require, including long workweeks.

“You must convey that you are OK with working those hours for the sake of perfecting your work,” Hsueh said.

Robinson also agrees with analysts from CollegeGrad.com who found that students are forced to accumulate a wide variety of self-marketing and self-promotion tools to succeed in a competitive job market. She said she has found that employers tend to look for students who have taken full advantage of the opportunities available to them.

“Students who are self-starters, have excellent communication and organizational skills, have strong work ethics, work well in teams and have demonstrated leadership ability have a competitive advantage in the job market,” Robinson said.

Robinson encouraged students seeking jobs to visit the MBNA Career Center early on to take full advantage of the knowledge and employer connections of the staff and the wide array of resources that are available.