March 12, 2010 | Eli Freund - School of Engineering

Career Fair a Success

On February 17th, the School of Engineering hosted its annual career fair in the Rome Commons Ballroom. The event attracted several hundred UConn engineering students, from freshmen through graduate students and across all disciplines, who were interested in exploring internships and co-ops as well as full-time career opportunities.

By Kate Kurtin

The career fair afforded students the opportunity to dress up, present their resume and make contacts; in turn, the employers were able to recruit, get a feel for the next generation, and discuss future career opportunities.

The event attracted between 30 and 40 employers, including numerous civil and mechanical engineering companies, insurance firms, energy companies, manufacturers, computing giants, defense-industry leaders, pharmaceutical companies, and state and federal employers. United Technologies Corporation, Cigna, FactSet Research Systems, Frito Lay, Loureiro Engineering Associates, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, and Navy Officer Program were among those in attendance.

career fairOne employer recruiting this year was FactSet Research Systems, a financial data and analytics firm from Norwalk, CT. Their team of recruiters included UConn engineering alumni, Kevin Steck (CSE, ’08) and Hasan Khalil (CSE, ’06). Mr. Khalil explained that his company is continually looking to hire students in a range of positions and that he enjoys being able to return to UConn as a recruiter. Now established as a Software Engineer, Mr. Khalil has returned to every UConn career fair and credits them with great recruitment successes for his company.

Undergraduate Education Program Assistant Kimberly Duby noted, “This year we are seeing a smaller number of companies participating in the career fair because of the economy, but the companies that are here are much more diverse than in previous years.” She said that although it is too soon to know how many students will receive an offer based on their career fair interactions, past experience suggests lots of great job matches begin during the event.

With a planned December ’10 graduation date in sight, Ishmael Smyrnow (CSE) attended the career fair in search of an internship and received good news early — he has scheduled interviews with both QueBit Consulting and United Technologies Corporation for potential jobs this summer. Mr. Smyrnow has attended three career fairs, and this is the second year that he has had success in getting interviews. Last summer he worked as an intern for Northeast Utilities after meeting their recruiters at the fair. This year’s fair was especially promising for Mr. Smyrnow. “I noticed this year that there were more computer science opportunities than in the past, which was nice for me” Mr. Smyrnow remarked.

The School hosted pre and post-career fair sessions for interested students that include helpful tips on effective resume writing, effective interviewing and other recruiting strategies, as well as phone interview skills and person to person interviewing skills. The sessions attracted dozens of students eager to present their most professional and polished persona in recruiting situations.

The School will host its next all-school career fair during the fall semester. Interested companies may contact Kimberly Duby at kaa@engr.uconn.edu for details.

For a complete list of companies that attended the career fair please visit http://www.engr.uconn.edu/spring2010careerfair.php.