NJIT Career Fair Growth Fuels Changes, Innovations for Improved Experiences and Outcomes

NJIT’s Career Development Services hosted its marquee event, again besting attendance and participation numbers over its previous career fair. Taking a page out of the logistics-improvement playbook of participating companies like UPS, Johnson & Johnson, Raytheon and others, CDS implemented changes to improve candidate and employer efficiency and experience.

The event included the introduction of Fast Pass, a program which allows for pre-registration sign-in to alleviate initial queuing, a complete redesign of the physical layout to reduce choke points in movement, and extended the event from four to five hours to accommodate the increased participation.

NJIT’s spring career fair had nearly 2,500 students and a record 239 companies participating

“We are committed to providing the very best career fair experience for the majority of our student and employer participants,” said Gregory Mass, executive director of CDS at NJIT. “Among our continuous improvement initiatives for this fair was to reduce crowding and inefficient engagement. Our goal of creating environments for students and company representatives to conduct affable conversations about career objectives and job opportunities was noticeably successful. We expect tremendous outcomes to follow this event.”

Students were presented with a wide variety of opportunities, especially to those who will graduate this May, like Ruben Gallo ’23, a mechanical engineering major. “It’s very beneficial that they do it both semesters, so that maybe if you're unprepared, or in the middle of a process to boost your resume, that you have the opportunity to try again in the spring just to see because there are also different companies that come each time,” said Gallo.

“It's nice to know that the university is willing to put this on, so that we have an opportunity to speak to and just familiarize ourselves with a more professional environment.”

Leading up to the fair, CDS hosted several preparation events to get students ready for the big day, like a Do’s and Don'ts session and resume building events. Participation in these events enabled use of the Fast Pass.

Over 100 alumni were in attendance representing their organizations, among them Andrés García ’14, a civil engineer who’s the deputy director of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection. “NJIT has continued to grow, in my opinion, in its reputation.

“I'm an NJIT alumnus and I've done pretty well for myself, and I think there's always a good pool of candidates to come out of NJIT, especially engineers.”

Dipti Raja ’19 and Maame Boakye ’21 came to the career fair to recruit for Pennoni, a company that offers services in mechanical engineering and structural transportation. 

Boakye, who graduated with a civil engineering degree, remembered how not so long ago she was on the other side of the table. “It's actually surreal because I've been on the other side of this exact table, and it's interesting to see the kind of questions that they asked us in terms of how we respond to them in a way that is efficient to what they're actually looking for, and how we can cater to what they are looking for as well,” she said.

Brent Dominguez ‘20, a computer science graduate who’s currently an IT specialist at KIPP New Jersey, a non-profit network of college-preparatory schools, pointed out that his understanding of the NJIT curriculum allows him to understand where potential NJIT recruits are coming from. “There's a lot of students here that are STEM majors and as an NJIT alum, it’s nice to come back to the university that I graduated from, and hire from here … I can relate with their experiences.”