STEM Career Fair connects students with employers — in person and live - University of Houston
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STEM Career Fair connects students with employers — in person and live

DSAES News
July 21, 2022

The 2022 STEM Career Fair set for Thursday will feature a more personal format — students and employers will meet face-to-face after two years of virtual networking because of COVID-19.

It’s exciting to be able to return to in-person career fairs after so many months connecting virtually with employers, said Caitlin Deis, assistant director of University Career Services.

“I was so proud of our team for navigating the shift to virtual recruitment during COVID-19,” Deis said. “But we are ready to be back in person! We have heard from both students and employers that they prefer in-person events because it allows for authentic and genuine conversations.”

The STEM Career Fair is set for Thursday, February 24, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Houston Room at the UH Student Centers. The recruitment event targets students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and dozens of local employers and graduate programs will be on hand to meet with students about job openings in multiple industries. Participating employers include those in the engineering, healthcare, environmental, technology, energy, consulting and government industries.

UH alumni who graduated in December 2021, currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students (master’s and Ph.D. students), and students graduating in Spring 2022 are encouraged to attend.

STEM Week kicks off on February 21 with both virtual and in-person events, including a pitch tutorial, sessions on how to interview, and tips on how to successfully conduct a job search.

Deis has some tips for student planning to attend:

The pandemic forced University Career Services to move many of its most successful services and programs online beginning in 2020, including its career fairs and its popular biannual JCPenney Suit-Up Event.

Although still a success — their virtual career fairs were still such a hit that University Career Services taught other colleges and universities how to hold their own online fairs — virtual career fairs were just missing that personal connection students could get when speaking with an employer face-to-face, said Dr. Monica Thompson, executive director of University Career Services and interim assistant vice president for student affairs.

Hosting these networking opportunities during COVID-19 has been a challenge, she said, and employers found it difficult to recruit students for job positions during the pandemic.

“The COVID 19 pandemic impacted the unemployment rate and brought some recruiting challenges for employers desiring to connect with job seekers in person,” Thompson said. “It’s exciting to see employers returning to campus to recruit our students in person. It’s equally exciting to see enthusiasm from our students as they prepare for the event -this has our entire team excited!”

Thompson said University Career Services added the STEM Career Fair in 2015, initially targeting natural science and mathematics majors with just seven employers attending. Now more than 64 organizations attend, and it’s open to all majors although it does specifically target students in the College of Engineering, College of Technology and College of Natural Science and Mathematics.

“I am proud of the UCS team’s commitment to prepare and implement strategic employer outreach to bring opportunities to our students,” Thompson said. “The 2022 STEM Career Fair is a great representation of STEM opportunities in industry and education. Reflecting on the past two recruiting years, we hope students will take advantage of this opportunity!”

Some of the employers who will be at the STEM Career Fair:

  • Baker Hughes;
  • CenterPoint Energy;
  • Houston Methodist Academic Institute;
  • Kiewit;
  • Lonza
  • Nabors;
  • National Security Agency;
  • Schlumberger;
  • Scribe America
  • The Reynolds and Reynolds Company;
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers;