UT Dallas students and alumni moved quickly – like speed daters courting a room of prospects – to make good first impressions with corporate recruiters at the Fall 2013 Career Expo Days, Sept. 26-27.
Nearly 2,500 students and alumni talked with recruiters from about 150 companies in the Activity Center.
The expos, held each fall and spring semester, are designed to help UT Dallas students and alumni network with recruiters and learn about available jobs and internships, said Lisa Garza, director of the Career Center.
“Attending Career Expo Days is the perfect opportunity for students to have face-to-face time with recruiters,” Garza said. “The expo helps employers decide who they will invite for interviews later on, so students’ attendance increases their chances of being selected.”
Finance junior Cassius Miller was first in line at the Sept. 26 expo, and said he hoped to get a solid lead on a financial sales analyst or specialist job. He arrived 90 minutes before the doors opened.
Finance junior Cassius Miller was first in line at the Sept. 26 expo. "I wanted to make sure I got a good parking spot, and also, you know, the early bird gets the worm," Miller said.
“I wanted to make sure I got a good parking spot, and also, you know, the early bird gets the worm,” Miller said.
UT Dallas is a top draw for corporate recruiters who want solid candidates in high-demand majors. About 88 percent of the University's fall 2012 graduates landed jobs or enrolled in continuing education.
Companies represented at the expo included Raytheon, AT&T, Texas Instruments, Verizon and Microsoft. Each booth offered plenty of giveaways: corporate T-shirts, water bottles, pens, plastic cups and reusable bags.
Isaac Heller, a recruiter with Sabre Holdings, said he expected to talk to dozens of students at the expo, including some of his classmates. Heller is finishing his MBA at UT Dallas this December.
“Sabre has had a strong relationship with UT Dallas. We have hired technical and development students in the past, and we’re also looking for business majors now,” said Heller, who works in strategy and business development for Sabre’s airline solutions division.
Kamakshi Nurani, a healthcare management grad student, attended the expo in hopes of finding an internship.
Sprint recruiter Julie Anderson said the telecommunications company targeted UT Dallas as one of eight schools to visit this fall. Anderson also said the company recently hired several UT Dallas students from its internship program.
“Our interns from UT Dallas were very professional,” Anderson said. “One was running circles around our full-time employees within a few weeks. He now works in application development for Sprint University.”
The expo also gave students a chance to ask questions and better determine their fit for a particular company or industry, said Casey Elder, a career services coordinator at the Career Center.
“Finding out what you don’t want to do is just as important as finding out what you do,” Elder said. “If you’re not happy, you’re not going to stick with it.”
Graduate student Kamakshi Nurani was hoping to line up an internship that would help her learn more about information technology applications in digital health care records. Nurani will graduate in December with a master’s degree in healthcare management.
“If it turns into a job, well and good,” Nurani said.