Tag: job fair

If there’s any doubt that Rochester Institute of Technology is still career-oriented, that doubt would evaporate quickly at one of the university’s job fairs.

The second of two career fairs for all majors this year was held last week, drawing some 5,000 students looking for co-op jobs or internships now or full-time employment once they graduate. Approximately 800 recruiters were on hand, representing 240 companies. 

The undertaking is so massive, students have to consult an app to find their way to the booths for company representatives they’re seeking out.  

The flip side of this massive fair, however, took place the day before at the much smaller Affinity Reception. Here, in a reverse image of the larger job fair, students from diverse backgrounds staffed the information tables, and it was the recruiters who milled about and called upon them. The reception was set up on a balcony overlooking the Gordon Field House’s arena that would house the big fair the next day.  

Numbers were much smaller at this reception. Just 43 students formally registered (organizers assumed others just walked in) to participate, and 52 recruiters, representing 30 companies, showed up to talk to them, often singling out students for an impromptu interview. 

“It’s a lot more intimate,” said Isabella Totino, a second-year computer science student from Boston. She was one of the students at the Women in Computing table. 

 At each of a handful of stations was a student group or university program. They included the Women in Engineering group, RIT chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers and the local chapter of the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers.  

As companies realize diversity is a good thing, a job fair like this one allows them a chance to improve their labor pool.  

“I don’t think you can ever have enough diversity, no matter how good your metrics are,” said Diana Solt, an RIT alumna who was on campus to recruit for her employer, L3Harris.

 “Though Totino had already secured summer employment, she said the fairs and working with the Women in Computing club give her a chance to make connections. Recruiters seemed genuinely interested in hiring diverse candidates. 

“I feel they do feel a need in the computer industry,” Totino said. “They know they’re not reaching their full potential.”

Solt, in strategy development at L3Harris, was hoping to secure perhaps 40 interns and 50 new graduates for permanent jobs.   

“We’re coming for perspectives — different thoughts on how to solve the world’s biggest problems, she said.

 At the big job fair the next day, Solt expected to talk to more than 300 students. But at the decidedly more chill Affinity Reception, she was able to have in-depth conversations with job candidates without the din of thousands of others talking around them.  

 Since the merger of Harris and L3 in 2019, L3Harris has been growing, said Chandler Kozyra, who handles university relations for communication systems at the company. The merger has opened up opportunities for new contracts, causing the company to need to bring on people quickly who can grow with the new demands. The defense contractor employs approximately 55,000 worldwide, he said, and about 3,800 in Rochester.   

RIT students and graduates make excellent hires, Solt said, because of their background in STEM fields, the applied skills they gain through their education there, and their co-op experiences. 

“It’s unbelievable,” she said. RIT students are “so talented, so smart, so ambitious.”

Maria Richart, director of career services and cooperative education at RIT, said the university offers seven job fairs each year, with some tailored to specific disciplines. Fairs are organized specifically for packaging, civil engineering, creative arts and academic and job opportunities abroad. The university also hosts talks, presentations and other special events aimed at connecting students with employers or preparing the student to start looking for a job. 

Earlier this week, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Proctor & Gamble were scheduled to make presentations. Tesla was looking to interview students in three specific majors for potential work, and a fair aimed at preparing creative arts students to seek employment were all scheduled.

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