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Career fairs go global
A pair of engineering career fairs next month will mark important milestones for UB: Both events have a global focus, a first for UB career fairs, and one will take place completely online—another first.
The fairs support UB’s commitment to providing a global education. The university is one of the country’s most international, placing 12th in the Institute of International Education’s most current ranking of research universities by international enrollment.
One in six students at UB in the 2009-10 academic year came from a foreign country, and nearly 12 percent of UB students take courses abroad, six times the national average.
The Virtual Global Engineering Career Fair on March 1 will introduce domestic and international businesses with a global presence to engineering and computer science students and alumni.
During the event, employers and prospective employees will have the opportunity to chat in groups or one on one. Video conferencing also will be available. Students who attend will create a profile and upload resumes before “meeting” with representatives of companies, among them IBM India and VanDeMark Chemical in Lockport.
“This is the first time we’re doing a virtual career fair, so that’s exciting for us,” says Holly Justice, engineering career counselor. “We want to let companies know that they can come to UB to recruit for domestic and international talent. This kind of global recruiting is a fairly new paradigm, and our virtual approach puts us at the cutting edge.”
The On-Campus Global Engineering Career Fair on March 4 in Alumni Arena will enable recruiters at firms with global opportunities to meet UB talent in a more traditional setting. The fair is for master’s and doctoral-level students and alumni in engineering and computer science.
So far, 15 firms from five U.S. states have signed up to attend. Registrants include media giant Bloomberg, IT services provider FDM Group and energy-solutions firm Cameron.
Companies interested in registering for either fair should contact Justice at hjustice@buffalo.edu or 645-4640.
“These career fairs are an opportunity for us to expand our focus on working with more global companies,” says Arlene Kaukus, director of UB Career Services, which organized the fairs in collaboration with the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “We’re starting with engineering, but it would be our hope to seek more global employers for other academic areas. UB has many international students who might want to return to their country of origin, and many domestic students who are interested in working globally.”
Harvey G. Stenger, dean of UB Engineering, says the two new fairs offer students a distinct service, differing from existing events such as the fall tech career fair, which focuses on the national scene.
“Comments on exit surveys from graduate students in engineering over the past several years have indicated a strong desire to have better career services provided to them,” Stenger says. “These new career fairs are aimed at filling this need by offering events focused on the global market.”
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