The Career Center hosted its annual Student Employment Fair in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room on Thursday, Sept. 5. It featured 51 employers from Pitt and the Pittsburgh area hiring part-time workers and interns.
“This is certainly a one stop shop for people that are looking to fill positions, and certainly a one stop shop for students who are looking for opportunities,” Sarah Kaminski, the founder of Best Ever Granola, said.
Kyra Jefferson, student employment coordinator at Pitt Human Resources, hoped the fair would help students find their niche.
“The benefit [for students] is for them to be able to engage and find what their best interests are within these departments,” Jefferson said. “It helps them see which works best for them and which one they would prefer to work at.”
Jefferson saw value in the fair because it adds a personal touch to the hiring process.
“Career fairs help build that personal engagement with students,” Jefferson said. “We have this moment where we can explain how we work … and it gives the students access to be able to meet with us and our staff and talk to different departments. We hire a lot [of staff] from our career fairs.”
Branden Ballard, Director of the Gismondi Neighborhood Education Program at the Office of Engagement and Community Affairs, who had a booth at the fair, said the event made hiring student employees much easier.
“Just today, maybe 70 people signed up to learn more information,” Ballard said. “Our job has been posted for three weeks now and we only had 17 hits, so I think we’re doing well coming to the fair.”
Ballard believes that student employment in some capacity is an essential part of the college experience.
“I think it’s important for everyone to get some experience doing something, whether that’s a job, whether that’s research or whether that’s an internship,” Ballard said. “I think doing something is important, because coming out of undergrad with just the skills that you learn in your classroom is good, but not enough from what we learn from industry.”
The fair is especially attractive for employers like Kaminski who are looking to fill jobs with shorter shifts.
“We’re looking to fill flexible part-time positions,” Kaminski said, “And I know with student schedules, they’re looking for pretty flexible part time jobs. So we’re happy to be here.”
Kyle Smusckiewicz, a sophomore civil engineering major, said that he hoped to find a job to help save some extra cash.
“I would like to save up money for things that I want in the future,” Smusckiewicz said. “Living off campus, food and for savings to be comfortable when I graduate.”
Nam Le, a first-year neuroscience major, said that he’s looking for a job that’s walkable and on-campus so he can balance work and school.
“Working for [Pitt] would be beneficial because the school has full support for what you’re doing [in class],” Le said. “I would love to work in an environment that benefits me.”
Frankie Perrotti, a first-year biology major, agreed that an on-campus job would be the best way to fill her downtime and appreciated the convenience of an on-campus fair.
“It’s just more practical,” Perrotti said. “Because it’s on campus, you’re able to meet new people who are going to be around all the time.” “You can see the differences between all of these different booths and all the different job opportunities,” Perrotti said. “I would not be going out and finding a job right now if this wasn’t happening. So I think it’s really useful.”
Le agreed, emphasizing the fair’s ability to bring together like-minded students and employers.
“You can go to any [booth] looking for a job,” Le said. “You can find somebody with the same dream as you and you can talk and hang out with friends. I think [the fair] is very useful.”