Oct. 21, 2002

Fair Promotes Public Interest Jobs-And Post-Graduation Survival Strategies

Rensselaer will host the Community Service & Public Interest Conference and Career Fair on Wednesday, Oct. 30, from 2 to 8 p.m. in the Alumni Sports & Recreation Center. The "alternative" career fair is designed for students seeking careers in the non-profit and public interest sector.

The event will showcase volunteer and employment opportunities in community service, social, and environmental organizations — and give attendees the advice they need to make those careers work.

Ande Diaz, author of The Harvard College Guide to Careers in Public Service, will deliver the keynote address at 1 p.m. in room 4050 of the Low Center for Industrial Innovation. Diaz, an assistant dean of student life at Princeton University and career counselor in private practice, will advise students about how to live with a smaller paycheck.

Seminars sessions such as: "Careers Creating Livable Communities," "Technologies To Change the World for Better," or "Jobs Our Parents Never Heard Of," will be held from 2 to 8 p.m. at various spots around campus.

"The careers represented will run the gamut," said Tom Tarantelli, director of the Career Development Center (CDC). "Government, alternative fuels, energy, conservation, housing, health, nonprofit, environment — they'll all be there. We're hoping to get more than 50 organizations to participate."

Sponsors of the event include the Office of the First-Year Experience, the CDC, Rensselaer Student Pugwash-EcoLogic, and the University of Albany's CDC, in collaboration with the Sustainable Careers Institute. For more info, go to www.rpi.edu/fye/commservice/ and click on the box for the event.