NEW YORK -- From soft drinks to soap, from towel racks to match books, the International Hotel/Motel and Restaurant Show is one big sales job.
Every item that can be found in a restaurant or hotel room and the companies that market these items were on the floor of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York Nov. 9-12 for the hotel show's 81st edition.
Also on hand were administrators, faculty members and students from Cornell's School of Hotel Administration. The hotel show is a major event on the school's calendar as administrators and faculty meet with alumni and other industry leaders and students get an opportunity to check out the industry and meet prospective employers.
On the lower level of the Javits Center, a maze of college and university booths were filled with colorful catalogues and brochures touting the wonders of various academic programs.
Well-groomed students dressed in dark business attire resembling their corporate counterparts greet passers-by, answer their questions and offer handouts to take home.
One of the students representing Cornell's Hotel School was 22-year-old senior Jamie Murdock of Columbus, Ohio, whose college resume says he's a Hotel School ambassador.
"Most of the questions I've been answering are from students who are interested in transferring to the Cornell Hotel School," said Murdock, who was attending his third hotel show. "They want to know what types of grades they need to be accepted or whether the Hotel School accepts credits from particular courses at their current college.
"I make sure that if I don't know the answer to their question, I will find someone who does and get back to them," he said. "We don't want to exaggerate or provide someone with false information."
It can be easy to exaggerate about the Hotel School's successes, but it's not necessary. Among those in the industry, the Hotel School is almost always cited as one of the best schools of its kind in the world, which is why recruiters make stopping off at the Hotel School booth part of their hotel show ritual.
Visits by corporate recruiters are perhaps the most anticipated visits to the school's booth.
"Many come by to find out how to become involved in our various career services," said Millie Reed, director of career services for the Hotel School. "In fact, some stop by to say they have a job to fill and could we suggest a candidate."
Reed always leaves the hotel show with a wad of business cards to add to her Rolodex of prospective employers who want first dibs on Hotel School graduates.
Recruiters, according to Reed, are interviewing and offering jobs to students earlier and earlier. This year she estimates that 60 percent of the students will have interviewed with a prospective employer by the end of the fall semester with offers likely in early spring.
"Recruiters want to interview and hire Cornell graduates before the competition does," she said. "That's especially true this year with the industry doing so well."
In some ways early offers make the job decision more difficult for students. "If a student gets an offer early, there really isn't much time for them to fully assess the job market; they may have to accept the offer before they participate in other interviews," Reed said.
The Hotel School enjoys one of the best placement records of any Cornell school or college. Reed said 90 percent of its students who graduated in 1995 had job offers in hand by graduation.
"We'll see these students next year, when they stop by our hotel show booth and sign the alumni book."