Big East tips off March Madness with first-of-its-kind Career Fair event

Big East tips off March Madness with first-of-its-kind Career Fair eventMarch 09, 2005Michele Barrettmibarret@syr.edu

The Center for Career Services at Syracuse University, along with career centers from several other Big East Conference colleges and universities, has formed the Big East Recruiting Consortium and joined in hosting the Big East Career Fair on March 8. The event, which took place at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in New York City, built on the success of last year’s acclaimed Big East e-Fair.

“The Big East men’s basketball tournament has a long history of showcasing the athletic talents of member schools,” says Michael T. Cahill, director of the Center for Career Services. “In the same way, the Big East Career Fair displayed to employers the incredible talent, across many disciplines, possessed by students from all of the Big East schools.”

The Big East Career Fair brought students and alumni from participating Big East schools together with employers offering employment and internship opportunities. Participation was limited to students and alumni from member institutions involved in this year’s event: SU, Boston College, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Temple, Villanova and West Virginia. Attending employers included Verizon Wireless, Teach for America, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Morgan Stanley, McCann Erickson, Johnson & Johnson, The Gallup Organization, MBNA America, N.A., Eckerd Youth Alternatives and the Social Security Administration.

“Typically, employers visit individual schools to connect with students. This event brought the students right to employers. Instead of requiring employers to visit 12 different campuses, they could commit to one event and reach interested students from all 12 institutions,” says Cahill.