They came wearing ties and bearing resumes. URI engineering students thronged the annual Engineering & Technology Job Fair, held October 13, 2004 in the Memorial Union, to meet with representatives of more than 25 companies and institutions.

 

Among the companies attending the event were American Power Conversion, Anteon Corporation, BAE Systems, EG&G Services, Electric Boat Corporation, Factory Mutual Insurance Company, Fuss & O’Neill, GTECH Corporation, GZA GeoEnvironmental, JobsinRI.com, MetLife, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon Company, SEA CORP, Siemens Energy and Automation, Texas Instruments, MITRE Corporation, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Marine Corps Officer Programs, the Peace Corps, and Zebra Technologies.

This year’s job fair was particularly successful, according to both URI and the attending companies. “I was very impressed with the students I spoke with at URI compared to other colleges we recruited at,” said Jody Kelsey of Zebra Technologies, a leading provider of thermal bar code label and receipt printers, card printers, and thermal printer connectivity and networking solutions. “The students were all well prepared with their resumes, presented themselves well and were genuinely interested in looking for employment. Many of the students followed up on the resumes they gave me, and as a result we interviewed several students for positions we currently have open.”

“The number of students who attended was overwhelming,” said Dan Lowney, engineering project manager at Electric Boat Corporation. “As always, the caliber of students was very high. We have found URI provides an exceptional curriculum, which has benefited both the corporation and students, since the work we conduct is relative to the course work they have completed.”

 

 Career Services Director Bobbi Koppel and Assistant Director Carolyn Thomas were equally pleased with this year’s event. “We had more than 300 engineering and other students attend, which is a very good turnout. In addition, we had a high level of participation from both returning companies and new ones, such as Siemens,” said Koppel.

Koppel noted that the College of Engineering was an integral part of the success of the fair. “The College has been very open to working with Career Services to help students find employment. Really, their cooperation is a model for the rest of the school,” she said.

 

The annual Engineering & Technology Job Fair is one of many initiatives that URI Career Services offers to help students find employment.  In addition to confidential career counseling and workshops ranging from broad issues of the job search through composing successful resumes, students (and alumni) may access Career Services’ BEACON (Become Employed at Career Online Network) Recruiting/Mentoring Program, which electronically manages employer/student connections, including internships, summer jobs, full-time and part-time employment.

 

“BEACON, powered by MonsterTRAK and fully customized to URI, makes it easy for job seeking candidates and employers to connect electronically prior to interviews,” said Koppel.