‘EVERYONE IS HIRING’
Uconn students, employers cheer the return of the in-person career fair after pandemic pause
After a long pandemic interruption, old fashioned and in-person job hunting returned to the Uconn campus Tuesday.
Uconn hosted its first in-person career fair event since before the virus and students and employers alike were glad to be back.
“For a lot of us, this is our first time to get out and test the waters, to see what’s out there,” said Tim Henry, a junior studying environmental engineering who was looking for an internship. “It’s important to get that first impression not on Zoom.”
Inside a lively Gampel Pavilion, masked students and employers (facial coverings were added to the usual professional dress code) gathered around booths to exchange Covid-friendly greetings and trade resumes for informational booklets. Some students rested in the seats surrounding the floor of the court, regrouping after personal elevator pitches.
Tuesday’s event was six months in planning, according to Jim Lowe, Uconn assistant vice provost and executive director of the Center for Career Development. About 120 national and local employers were present, and some 2,000 students were expected to participate throughout the afternoon. An online-only fair will be held on Sept. 28.
The university, which used to host two or three career fairstyle events each year, had hoped to hold an in-person career fair last March before the onset of the pandemic forced a pivot. The result was a fully online event in which students could sign up for time slots with specific companies.
Data from Uconn’s Center for Career Development show that 84% of 2020 graduates were either fully employed or enrolled in a postgraduate education program, indicating that graduating students fared reasonably well given the circumstances.
Still, the virtual offerings weren’t always a hit among returning students.
“[The online career fair] kind of sucked, I didn’t like it at all,” said Justin Corres, a senior mechanical engineering major.
Some of that is personal: Corres hopes to land a job in his field that’s more hands-on, like aerospace fabrication, and prefers face-toface interaction.
The in-person model is also mostly preferred by employers.
“You get to see the look in their eye, the enthusiasm a student has comes across much better in-person,” said Paul Scott, a program representative at Groton-based General Dynamics Electric Boat, the top submarine manufacturer for the U.S. Navy. Scott said he gets
better questions, and a better sense of a student’s interests.
Ashley Browning, a talent specialist at COCC, a financial technology firm based in Southington, said that face-to-interaction “adds a whole new element to that connection,” making it easier to recruit better candidates.
While some companies lost workers over the pandemic or enacted a hiring freeze, COCC hired 170 new remote positions to its 700-strong workforce.
The company retains a hybrid model now, with a mix of remote and in-person positions available. “That’s why we come to Uconn,” Browning said, “We love to look at
local talent.”
The nationwide shortage of workers among some industries is well-documented, after concerns over how the pandemic would affect the job market.
“There are plenty of jobs, everyone is hiring,” Browning said.
The students at Tuesday’s fair said they hoped she was right.
“It’s hard to tell as a student, but you’re always going to need engineers,” said Michael Katz, a junior biomedical engineering major. “If there’s money to be made doing it, companies will be hiring.”
Dharni Shah, a graduate student seeking a master’s degree in business analysis and project
management, said that jobs have rebounded in the information technology field back to pre-pandemic levels — if not higher.
According to Henry, internships were scarce during his pandemic-ridden sophomore year, but now he is optimistic of landing one for next summer.
After hitting it off with one employer earlier on Tuesday, Henry said he’s now scheduled for a virtual follow-up next week.
“I don’t think that would’ve happened without a strong first impression,” Henry said.