Job fair connects students, prospective employers

Wednesday’s Student Employment Fair served as a homecoming for Northeastern alumni Ineudira Barbosa and Heather Birchall. Both did one of their co-ops at the Chelsea Housing Authority, where they now work full-time.

They joined representatives from about 70 employers who participated in the annual fair, which was organized by the Student Employment Office and held in the Curry Student Center’s indoor quad.

“We actually had a lot of interest, which is great,” said Barbosa, noting she and Birchall would not be working at the Housing Authority if not for their co-op.

The job fair was one of many Welcome Week events planned for students’ return to campus. “It was very successful,” said Anthony Erwin, dean of Student Financial Services. “We already got feedback from the employers, which was all positive.”

Both on- and off-campus employers participated in the fair, with Macy’s, CVS, and UBurger sharing space with representatives from Northeastern’s Athletics Department, admissions office, and others. There were also work study and non-work study opportunities.

Computer science graduate student Brinal Pereira arrived at the event primed to explore the opportunities for technical jobs. Another job seeker, first-year student first-year student Brian Knowles, was on the lookout for a range of opportunities. “This is a chance to explore some pretty interesting jobs,” he said.

Knowles visited the fair with fellow first-year student Justin Juranovits, both of whom received information from ENE Systems, a temperature control company based in Canton, Mass. Knowles said getting a job like the ones offered at the fair would help build his real-world experience—a signature component of Northeastern’s experiential educational model, rooted in its century-old co-op program. Students take part in co-op and other experiential learning opportunities in 93 countries worldwide.

This year was the first time Victorinox Swiss Army, which has a store in Boston, attended the fair. Albania Gonzalez, human resources manager for Victorinox, said the company was eager to interact with Northeastern students at the event; one student already works there part-time.

”We had a lot of good conversations with students,” Gonzalez said. “We are really looking for people who are outgoing, because that is what customer service is.”