Investment and consulting firms are in the business of selling images and ideas, and their information sessions are no different.

So information sessions have become playgrounds, trying to win employees instead of friends by sharing toys. Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) provided all attendees with light-up yo-yos. Vertex Partners, acknowledging a more mature crowd, provided travel coffee mugs.

Toys and snacks can be tangible rewards for attending otherwise dry slide presentations.

With only about an hour to sell an image, these little gifts can make a big difference. But, just as a small token can prove helpful for the company, a small slip-up can hurt the recruiting company's image.

Number one on the "to not do" list is droning. Slide presentations are a formality. Students attend the presentations to speak with representatives, greet old friends, gather pamphlets, and maybe to leave with a new mug. Short presentations will make a better impression than long ones; chances are that students will tune out after the fourth pie chart.

A final benefit to attending information sessions is exercise. Students who attend just for the food will have the opportunity to try their skills at another playground game: the obstacle course.

The goal? Try to get to the cookie platter by maneuvering around the grinning, Brooks Brothers-clad yuppies eagerly awaiting a handshake and a Q- and-A session.

--Erica R. Michelstein