Desmun Guyit ’08 looked slightly amused as Aflac recruiter Jeff Rizzo carried a three-foot-tall plush duck into an interview room in Lewis Hall of Science Oct. 9. Guyit, who wants to work in marketing at Aflac because of its successful campaign, was the first of many to interview with Rizzo for internships and jobs.

Fourteen companies conducted rapid-fire 15-minute “speed interviews” with nearly 40 McDaniel Business and Economics students. Some, like Guyit, met with only one potential employer. Others, like Kayla Wiles ’08, met with six. Wiles is hoping to land a job in financial analysis or accounting.

As students wearing suits and ties rushed from one interview room to the next, Business and Economics Professor Susan Milstein stood by smiling.

“I get on a high from this,” says Milstein, who, for the second year, arranged the interview day with accounting firms, banks and other major companies in the Baltimore/Washington area. “The students are loving it. Some say they’re nervous, but I tell them to just be themselves.”

It was good advice. One student was offered an internship on the spot. Two more were asked to come to follow-up meetings. Employers told Assistant Director of Career Advising Amanda Isaac they were impressed with students’ résumés, polished professional appearance and company knowledge.

“The employers told us they were very satisfied with the caliber of students,” said Isaac, who held a job interview workshop for students beforehand.

Guyit, who was raised in Nigeria and who transferred to the Westminster campus from McDaniel College’s Budapest campus, has worked in Europe and Washington, D.C. At McDaniel, he has taken classes in corporate finance, marketing and entrepreneurship.

“If I was in Europe, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to interview with companies on campus,” he said. “But here, the recruiter gave me his card and asked me to come to a workshop to learn more about working for Aflac.”