It is a perfect scenario – students are in the market for jobs, and companies are in the market for hiring. At the annual AUCC Career Fair, hosted by the Atlanta University Center Consortium, more than 1,300 students from partner institutions Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College came out for a chance at career opportunities and internships. From high-tech to high schools and profit to nonprofit, 184 of the nation’s top companies were on hand to recruit from the fair, accounting for a nearly 30 percent increase in recruiters from the 2014 fair.
“The AUCC Career Fair provides the perfect platform to find the pool of diverse and talented students we are seeking for opportunities not only in Atlanta, but across the United States,” said Luis Abarca, Southeast regional manager for INROADS Inc. An organization that develops and places underserved young professionals in business and industry to prepare them for corporate and community leadership. “We look forward to a continued collaboration with the AUCC and to propel the careers of the students the Consortium serves.”
According to Denise Holmes, AUCC director of the Office of Academic and Career Services, corporation participation has increased since the economy has improved. At the 2014 fair, 148 companies were represented.
“As an aspiring aerospace engineer, I talked with companies like Boeing, NASA, FAA, and so forth,” said junior Frank Adams, a physics/aerospace Dual Degree Engineering Program student attending CAU. “I have a possible internship with Lockheed Martin Corp. lined up for the summer.”
Another DDEP student, Melvin Hill, a Morehouse senior majoring in applied physics spoke with eight companies that had an interest in him.
“I was very impressed with the amount of companies for engineering majors,” said Hill, who will attend Auburn University in the spring to complete his degree in civil engineering.
Baylis stated that by the year 2018, there will be over 2 million STEM-related jobs available and a need to close the diversity/gender gap. Therefore, the increase of recruiters to the AUCC is expected to continue to grow.
“It’s very important for us, … and the nation, to understand that [historically Black colleges and universities] are a tremendous resource,” said Tony Baylis, assistant department manager for the Computing Applications and Research Department in the Computation Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. “It is important for young people to understand that the AUC offers the foundation to get a good education and matriculate into these great opportunities that are so abundant.”
See images from the AUCC Career Fair.
