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PIT Career Fairs
Fall 2023 Snapshot
In fall 2023, six leading universities and colleges hosted Public Interest Technology Career Fairs as part of the inaugural PIT Careers Month, funded by the PIT University Network (PIT-UN), a critical step towards building career pipeline infrastructure for this fast-growing field.
Nearly 1,400 students and over 150 employers were engaged at the fairs, facilitating over 500 one-to-one meetings between aspiring public interest technologists and hiring organizations from non-profits, government and industry. Participating institutions San José State University, Stillman College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Carnegie Mellon University, Temple University School of Law and City University of New York represented all four major regions of the U.S. higher education landscape.
Michelle Smith, Corporate & Foundation Relations
Bobbi Makani, Career Center
Held over two days, the STEM Undergraduate Students Job and Internship Fair hosted PIT employers in a high-traffic area. All participating employers were provided with a welcome packet that included introductory materials on public interest technology. Many non-PIT employers were unaware of the PIT program before attending, and were intrigued by the program.
“We ran into a lot of talented students that we’d love to hire. … The career fair was organized really well, and we were so happy with the volunteers who helped us talk to as many students as possible.” – PIT Employer
Dr. Kevin Harris, Program Chair of Computational and Information Sciences
Stillman College’s Career Exploration included participation from four institutions (Stillman College, Talladega College, Lemoyne-Owens College, Rust College). The career day included lightning talks in which faculty, students as well as industry professionals presented their work and involvement with public interest technology. Hiring organizations consisted of both private and government entities.
A technology activation space was available throughout the day where students had a chance to engage with a range of technologies including various types of drones and robots.As a culmination of the day students were divided into working groups and provided case studies, for which they developed and reported back solutions while describe their understanding of PIT.
Students said they enjoyed networking with students from other institutions, presenting at a low pressure event where they felt supported by peers and expanding their knowledge of multiple career paths applicable to their field of study.
LeMoyne-Owen College’s Center for Cybersecurity along with Career Services First and Second Year Experience Program hosted a virtual and in-person career fair. Prior to the event, the college hosted a series of PIT-specific awareness events to help students from various disciplines learn more about the public interest technology field.
Over 30 employers attended career fair, and the LeMoyne-Owne team plans to expand future programming around customized experiences for first- and second-year PIT students.
Dr. Zina Parker, Professor of Education
Dr. Robert T. Williams, Career Services Director
The Public Interest Tech @ CMU Career Fair & Conference produced a lot of excitement around public interest tech from both employers and current students. Before the fair, CMU hosted a series of in-person overview sessions about PIT with regional universities, employers and government agencies. 76% of surveyed students said they were likely to pursue professional opportunities in PIT.
“It was an honor to help guide the conversation around PIT, and I was blown away by the wisdom of my fellow panelists.” – PIT Employer
“We need more employers and more events like these.” – CMU Student
Ron Delfine, Reidy Career Center
Laura Bingham, Institute for Law, Innovation and Technology (iLIT)
The Philadelphia Law & Public Interest Technology Career Exploration Fair will was organized jointly by Temple University’s iLIT, Villanova Law School, Penn-Carey Law University Future of the Profession Initiative, and Drexel University’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law. The full-day event featured a keynote from Sateesh Nori, founder of the housing justice startup JustFix, mock or informational interviews, resume drop-offs, networking, informational booths and small group sessions. Temple and its collaborators also developed evergreen resources for PIT law students: the Explore PIT Law website.
Participating employers included New York Legal Aid Society’s Digital Forensics Unit, Philadelphia’s Office of Innovation & Technology, Microsoft, InterDigital, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, My Shingle, and CODE PA.
Photos by Kelly & Massa Photography
The CUNY Graduate PIT Career Fair connected graduate students (master’s and PhD) from across 15 colleges with NYC PIT-sector employers, including the Office of Careers and Industry Partnerships and the NYC’s Mayor’s Office of Talent and Workforce Development Tech Talent Pipeline. The event strengthened connections with other support networks for PIT careers, which will facilitate the organization of future PIT events.
In a post-event survey, students shared the names of specific employers they would like to see at future events, expressed high satisfaction with the quality of the attending employers, and indicated that the career fair significantly enhanced their understanding of potential career paths and professional development opportunities.
“As an alumnus in the midst of a career transition, these opportunities are really valuable.” – CUNY Alumnus
Jennifer Furlong, Office of Career Planning and Professional Development
Lisa Marie Rhody, The Graduate Center
