Kristyn Babiak will go from part-time babysitter to retail sales representative for a global 500 company in about a month.

Babiak (senior-marketing) will join the ranks of 83,000 DaimlerChrysler employees in North America at the company's mid-Atlantic business center in Baltimore.

On top of all this, she will be given a new company car to cruise around in.

"I won't have to worry about paying for gas or insurance, which is really helpful," she said.

Tom Austin, training manager for DaimlerChrysler's mid-Atlantic region, said employees usually drive high-performance sports cars and limited-release street and racing technology (SRT) models.

"The cars are a blast to drive," Austin said. "Employees drive newer models to show the car dealers. It is a perk of the job, but it also helps drive sales."

Babiak, a native of West Chester, said she is also looking forward to living in the inner-harbor area while completing her first three months of training. Then she said she may be moved to another DaimlerChrysler center in the mid-Atlantic region.

Babiak said for the first year, she will serve as a "liaison between DaimlerChrysler headquarters and car dealerships."

"I will help the dealerships determine how many cars they should sell a year and help them check their financial statements so they can operate efficiently," Babiak said.

Austin said Babiak might deal with up to 20 car dealerships.

"She will be responsible for merchandising and marketing in the communities where the dealerships are," he said.

Austin said employees have to "be self directed and manage their own time and schedule."

"It is an interesting job because you are not working out of an office and it is not the typical nine to five schedule," he said. "[Sales representatives] are on the road a majority of the time. It's a lot of fun."

DaimlerChrysler recruited at Penn State using the on-campus recruiting system, Babiak said.

"I posted my résumé and got a call few weeks later for a phone interview," she said. "The recruiters came to Penn State for the next interview."

Austin, a Penn State alumni and 30-year employee at DaimlerChrysler, said the company looks for candidates with specific attributes.

"Teamwork and relationship building are critical to success," he said. "We also look at problem-solving and decision-making skills."

Babiak said she feels her classes and internship experiences at Penn State helped prepare her for life after college.

"I was a German business minor," she said. "I researched DaimlerChrysler for a project about German car companies, so I knew a lot about the company already."

In 1998 Chrysler Corporation, which owns Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, was taken over by German-based Daimler-Benz, which produces Mercedes-Benz vehicles to create DaimlerChrysler. This past February, DaimlerChrysler announced it was cutting 13,000 jobs.

Babiak said the recent volatility in the auto industry made her a little nervous about accepting the job offer.

"It was a little weird that they hired a college grad after so many people had been laid off," she said.

Austin said that the auto industry is "fast-paced and always changing" but that this can lead to opportunities for young people to move up in the company. He said the company is going through a re-organization and about 2,000 employees will be given early retirement options.

"We recently hired six new people for the mid-Atlantic region, which is the highest number of new employees we've hired in a while," Austin said.

Austin said high gas prices have led to new innovations to increase fuel efficiency in the SUVs, trucks and cars Chrysler produces.

"We are working with General Motors and BMW to come out with the next level of hybrid vehicles," Austin said. "They should be available in 12 to 18 months."

DaimlerChrysler is working to develop clean-burning diesel engines similar to those used in Europe, Austin said.

Babiak said the company is also looking to bring Smart Cars to the U.S. in 2008.

Despite a few concerns, Babiak said she is optimistic about her future with the DaimlerChrysler and is eager to advance to leadership positions.

"The company will offer me financial assistance to get my M.B.A.," she said.

Since she never got the opportunity to study abroad, Babiak said travel is another aspect of the job that attracted her.

"Since Daimler has offices in Germany, I might have the opportunity to work in Europe in a few years," she said.

Even though leaving college will be bittersweet, Babiak said she is ready for something new.

"It will be a learning experience," she said. "I'll have to grow up pretty fast."