As one of the world’s top public universities, UB boasts a diverse student body of talented individuals known for being curious, smart, and kind. We cultivate a community of confident problem solvers who are well prepared and ready to shine inside the classroom and out in the world.
About UB
UB at a glance
UB is one of America’s leading public research universities and a flagship of the State University of New York system, recognized for our excellence and our impact.
We are the hub where organizations like yours can tap into the deep talent pool that flourishes within the UB student body. This is where established companies and startups, non-profits and Fortune 500s come to recruit new team members who are energized, engaged, and ready to contribute.
Why we're here
Simply put, our job is to build connections between UB student talent and employers offering career advancement opportunities in a way that helps job seekers and job creators thrive together.
What we do
We go beyond career fairs and job postings to curate purposeful and creative encounters between companies and candidates that allow both to find the right fit. The possibilities are limitless.
How we do it
We partner with employers to customize a smart mix of resources, activities and events that align with your culture and are designed to fill immediate needs while building brand awareness for future recruitment.
Three ways to engage
Connect to our talent pipeline
Post a job, search and message students, and interview on-campus to find the capable interns and teammates you’ve been looking for.
Promote your brand
Create positive associations with your company culture through on-campus interactions now to help attract the qualified talent you’ll need later.
Collaborate with us
Every company’s hiring needs are unique, and your recruitment strategy should be, too. Let’s customize a plan that works for you.
An international lens—and lemonade—drive tech startup’s staffing strategy.
As a company defined by creative problem solving, Odoo collaborates with UB Career Design Center to “get a little weird” with innovative and unusual tactics to catch – and keep – students who fit the Odoo culture.
Finding the right person for the position starts with identifying stand-out candidates. We offer a variety of tech tools and in-person opportunities to connect employers with their best new hires.
Post your jobs + internships
It’s easy to post positions, review resumes, and communicate with applicants through Bullseye powered by Handshake, our easy-to-use recruitment platform that’s open 24/7.
Host or attend fairs + events
Meet more potential candidates by hosting events in person or virtually, participating in job + internship fairs, or working with our consultants to create a tailored experience.
Interviews
Schedule video conversations with qualified applicants on the same platform you use to search, or come to campus and reserve a space for in-person interviews.
Hired a UB student?
Tell us about it. Share your hires with us.
Brand-building is an overlooked but essential component of university recruitment. Why? Because nearly 60% of candidates will check out your company after viewing a job description to see what you’re saying out in the world. What’s more, students who have positive associations with companies during their early college years are more likely to seek your job postings in the first place. Target top talent and manage your message with brand-building activities like these.
Attract top talent by making the most of your employer page on Bullseye powered by Handshake. You can customize your presence on the platform by adding things like brand elements, video content, employee testimonials, and invitations to virtual events.
Quotes from UB students working and interning for your company and testimonials from UB alums who work there serve as credible endorsements that help paint a more robust picture of the culture, opportunities, and people students might encounter in their interactions with you.
Smart, targeted messaging can drive job applications, increase attendance at fairs and events, or offer valuable 1:1 time to highly qualified candidates.
UB alumni working for your company are excellent liaisons between students at their alma mater and you, the employer. Their shared understanding of both cultures can help convey your brand to potential candidates, and identify which ones might be the right fit for your company.
Maintain an active social media presence on the major platforms to showcase your best brand attributes. Post, tweet or share, telling #UBuffalo students you're coming to @universityatbuffalo for an event.
Share your company’s expertise and insights at on-campus or virtual events designed to give students a better perspective on industries, issues, or careers that match their interests.
Creating opportunities for conversation outside of a formal meeting is a great way to get to know candidates’ personalities and interests, hear about personal projects, and get a sense of a student’s fit within your company culture.
Share insights into your company culture, thought leadership that’s of interest to tomorrow’s workforce, or trends you’re seeing in hiring or job readiness with guest blog posts that reach students on the Career Design Studio.
Digital storytelling is an impactful way to showcase interesting aspects of your company or industry in depth. Ideas are endless and include “day in the life of” employee spotlights, a tour of your facility, or a conversation about an industry hot topic.
Ways employers have used social media to promote their brand and events.
Collaborate with us!
Together, we can customize a plan that works for you and your organization to recruit at UB. So let's talk!
We’ve assembled this valuable collection of resources to help maximize your recruiting relationship with UB. These tools were hand-selected by the pros at the Career Design Center based on conversations we’ve had over the years with companies like yours that are motivated to stand out and make great matches in a competitive recruitment environment.
Employer Recruitment Guidelines
The University at Buffalo is committed to ensuring equal employment, educational opportunity, and equal access to services, programs, and activities without regard to an individual's race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, gender, pregnancy, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, predisposing genetic characteristics, marital status, familial status, veteran status, military status, domestic violence victim status, or criminal conviction status.
Download your copy of the recruitment guidelines to learn more >>
Bullseye powered by Handshake offers employers a robust set of resources to identify and engage UB students whose skills match a spot on your team.
Learn how to get started
International Student Information
Most international students are on an F1 Visa. There are two types of off campus work authorizations these students can apply for: Curricular Practical Training (CPT) –usually used for internships and Optional Practical Training (OPT) –usually used post-graduation, but may also be used for internships.
Find out what works, what doesn’t, and how to make the most out of recruitment efforts and communications at UB.
Events
Fairs
The most successful companies in the world value and empower people who bring a range of perspectives and life experiences to the workplace.
International Student Information
Most international students are on an F1 Visa. There are two types of off campus work authorizations these students can apply for: Curricular Practical Training (CPT) –usually used for internships and Optional Practical Training (OPT) –usually used post-graduation, but may also be used for internships.
UB students infuse fresh energy into organizations while earning the opportunity to contribute their skills, test drive a career, and learn on the job.
Collaborate with us!
Together, we can customize a plan that works for you and your organization to recruit at UB. So let's talk!
Our team at the Career Design Center is full of energetic individuals who love getting creative, having a good time, and creating success stories for the companies who partner with us.
Meg Recktenwald
Associate Director, Employer Relations and External Engagement
Cara Morse
Employer Relations Associate
Tiffany Bassett
Employer Relations Associate
Collaborate with us
Fast growth and stiff competition fuel tech startup’s creative hiring approach.
Odoo, a tech company that develops business management software for over seven million users, is on track for fast growth. To find enough talent to fill a quickly expanding roster of roles, the startup’s hiring strategy includes partnering with the UB Career Design Center to staff positions today’s open positions and bolster its recruitment reputation for years to come.
Challenge & Opportunity
Odoo started out with 10 people in January of 2021. But the plan is to grow to a team of 500 full-time staffers in a range of positions from customer service to tech support by 2027. This rapid recruitment initiative comes at a time when hiring top talent has gotten more complicated and challenging with remote work forcing companies to compete with a national labor market, especially in fast-growth sectors like tech.
But Odoo has adapted. The company pulled data to analyze market trends and differentiate itself by establishing an internal structure and culture that’s attractive to the type of talent it needs to attract. Work at Odoo is in-person, with an immersive team environment and plenty of opportunities to grow through mentorship, early independence, direct client interaction, and lots of room for growth and learning. Odoo’s core recruitment principle is to hire scrappy, self-starting, creative problem-solvers based on potential, not experience. That’s why they turned to the UB Career Design Center to connect that principle with the right people.
Partnership & Solution
Out-there ideas open doors for like-minded thinkers and long-term brand building.
As a company defined by creative problem solving, Odoo felt like standard job fairs were an outdated way to connect with students and a missed opportunity to really get to know each individual. Instead, Odoo collaborates with UB Career Design Center to “get a little weird” with innovative and unusual tactics to catch – and keep – students who fit the Odoo culture. The company’s willingness to try crazy ideas and see what works has led to several successful events and strategies that bring big benefits to the company and to the University.
Resume review with a twist
Odoo’s first chance to get weird was through a pop-up co-developed with the Career Design Center called “Resumade.” Odoo ambassadors took to the student center to hand out cans of lemonade from the back of a specially outfitted cooler tricycle. Each can’s label featured a QR code that led students to the Odoo page in Bullseye powered by Handshake, the recruitment platform that connects employers with UB talent. There, students could upload their resumes for one-on-one review by Odoo employees and get valuable feedback directly from professionals working in the industry. In turn, Odoo is developing a network of students whose skills and career paths might be the perfect fit for the company.
Speed interviewing
Built on the concept of speed dating, Odoo’s speed interviewing event gave each student 15 minutes to rotate between three different recruiters and practice making a great first impression. The pilot program gave recruiters a chance to organically meet talent in an energetically Odoo-branded space, while students got several rounds of opportunity to perfect their professional pitch in a fun, fast-paced and informal setting.
International talent
More than 85% of UB’s computer science students attend the university through student visas, and without a clear path toward a career in the United States, the majority return to their home countries after graduation. While many companies in the tech sector are struggling to attract sought-after international talent, Odoo has developed a proactive plan to retain this skilled and diverse workforce by offering early internships and work visas to invite graduates to stay.
Odoo joined our Resumade pop-up helping students with their resumes.
Brand building
Odoo’s five-year hiring goals are aggressive, which means the company needs to think ahead by positioning itself as a great place to work for students who won’t be graduating for several more years. By building a positive presence on campus now, Odoo can successfully compete for talent against more established employers with greater name recognition among tomorrow’s jobseekers.
Outcomes & Support
Smart collaboration creates a solid framework for future success.
Odoo’s out-of-the-box approach has identified scores of qualified candidates for internships and positions within the company in the first two years of partnering with the UB Career Design Center. Odoo recruiters have found that interesting activities attract interesting people, and they plan to continue trying new tactics every semester for the foreseeable future.
Testimonial
“Our company is constantly trying to find ways to work and recruit outside of ‘normal’ channels to find people where no one else is looking. Working with the UB Career Design Center gives us an edge. So many other companies rely on what has worked in the past, but UB challenges conventions—and so do we.”
Nicholas Kosinski | Managing Director, Odoo U.S. East
Hired a UB student?
Tell us about it. Share your hires with us.
Together, we can enhance your recruiting strategy at UB
Learn how the Career Design Center can help you build your recruitment strategy to find the right talent for you and your organization here at UB.
Start recruiting
You don't have to wait to start recruiting UB talent on Bullseye powered by Handshake. Check out how to get started now. >>