As the financial scene shifts, B-schools are busy reaching out to nervous students whose job prospects are suddenly far from certain

by Alison Damast

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Worker leaving Lehman Brothers Andrew Popper/BW

These are usually the days when business train students are colonizing into their rank routine and awaiting the arrival of recruiters on campus. But with the downfall of two of Wall Street’s investment houses and fears that other major companies are on the brink, it’s a nervous duration of one’s life at B-schools.

How depressing will it be? Most traffic schools contacted this week speak it’s in addition early to tell, but Alan Johnson, CEO of Johnson Associates, a compensation consultancy. predicts hiring will be down by as plenteous viewed like 50% this fall, with students entering what will be one of the most fiercely competitive job markets in late years.

"While most banks will not admit it, we expect to see few people hired in the fall and banks tarrying to apprehend to what degree the environment evolves," Johnson said on Sept. 16.

Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers (LEH) and the rushed sale of Merrill Lynch (MER) over the weekend, school career services officers have been busy reassuring students, reaching out to those who had job offers lined up with the firms and organizing campus-wide events to discuss the overall impact of the events without ceasing job prospects.

One thing is certain: Career services officers at vocation schools are bracing for rough waters ahead, said Kip Harrell, food president of the MBA Career Services Council, the umbrella group of school career placement officers in a Sept. 15 interview.

Students who interned at Merrill Lynch over the summer and received a job offer are mixed the more fortunate ones—in this way far. Their jobs appear to be surviving Merrill’s sale to Bank of America (BAC). "We are standing by all of our offers," said a spokesperson at Merrill Lynch on Sept. 16.

The outlook at other firms is not so conspicuous. A spokesperson at Lehman Brothers declined to comment. A call to insurance giant American International Group (AIG), what one. faced failure until a government rescue plan was reached Tuesday night, was not returned.

Deans of business schools are too preparing for tough times ahead. The new dean of the University of San Diego’s School of Business Administration, David Pyke, is expecting recruiting by means of investment banks to take a nosedive this fall. "I think it’s going to have being bloody." But he said it will apparently not do harm to his school too much since not many students go to Wall Street; most cessation up in corporate finance positions.

The schools likely to be hardest suit are those known for their strong finance offerings, where large investment firms probable Lehman and Merrill have tended to renovate heavily. Mark Zupan, dean of University of Rochester’s Simon Graduate School of Business, uttered he believes that the top five business schools, what one. are clew feeders for rise above others financial firms, will be the most impacted by the turmoil. "It’s going to be a tough market for Wall Street-related jobs," Zupan said.

Indeed career services officers at those top-ranked schools said they are anxiously awaiting word from Lehman, Merrill, and AIG on whether or not they plan to consideration the job offers they extended to second-year students, as well as their plans for emptying campus recruiting.

"We don’t be sure the impact yet on recruiting conducive to second-year students," Julie Morton, associate dean for career services at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business said in an e-mail. "We do know that because of Friday afternoon the outlook was solid." Most of the Wall Street firms wages mainly from their internship classes, she added.