Inside Rensselaer, February 19, 2010: Career Development Center Hosts Spring Career Fair

Career Development Center Hosts Spring Career Fair

On Feb. 3, the Career Development Center (CDC) held its annual Spring Career Fair, designed to help students think ahead to potential full-time, co-op, internship, or summer employment opportunities. More than 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students attended the fair, which provided them with an opportunity to meet and talk with 115 public- and private-sector employers representing 25 states, and a broad range of industries including aerospace, manufacturing, entertainment, military and defense, banking, telecommunications, and energy, among others.

“There is definitely a different vibe this year with the way that employers are hiring, which makes it really important for students to make a positive first impression,” said Tom Tarantelli, director of the CDC and acting assistant vice president of student life. “We are also pleased that 28 regional employers have participated in the career fair this year. It is testimony, perhaps, to the growing high-tech sector in the Capital Region.”

Employers are expected to hire about 7 percent fewer graduates during 2009-10 than they did in 2008-09, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. But for staffers in Rensselaer’s Career Development Center, the plethora of programs and services that they have developed focus on helping individuals who are interested in identifying, planning for, and achieving future career goals.

So far, preliminary results indicate that, despite the economic downturn, Rensselaer students and future graduates still have the potential of landing good jobs. Last year’s graduates are working for companies that include American Airlines, BAE Systems, Cisco Systems, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, GE, Lockheed Martin, NASA, National Instruments, Philips Healthcare, Raytheon, United Technologies, Westinghouse Nuclear, and Xerox.

The average starting salary for Class of 2009 students with bachelor’s degrees was $56,908. For students with master’s degrees, the average starting salary was up 1 percent to $72,000, according to the average reported acceptance salaries the CDC received from Class of 2009 graduates.

In addition, some Class of 2009 graduates chose to continue their studies. Among the schools that graduates are attending are Albany Medical College, Albany Law School, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Cornell, Georgetown, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Oxford, Stanford, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, and, of course, Rensselaer.

“Most importantly, we tell students that it is not just about jobs, it’s about careers, and the Career Fair is the first step that will provide many of these students with an opportunity to demonstrate the personal and professional skills they have been exposed to in classes and through the many experiential opportunities they have participated in, which attract employers and graduate schools to Rensselaer students,” Tarantelli said.

For more information, visit www.rpi.edu/dept/cdc/index.html.

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