Career fair plagued by long lines and wait times

The Stevens Career Fair was on September 21. It offered students the opportunity to learn about different industries and potentially get their foot in the door for an internship or job position. However, not everyone who attended had the chance to interact with employers, primarily due to excessive waits to enter the venues.

At its height, the wait to enter the Tech Flex Auditorium in the University Center Complex (UCC) stretched across the UCC’s ground floor, up the lobby stairs, out the main entrance, and across the grounds of the towers towards Howe. Attendees who entered the line could expect about an hour of standing under the beating sun in their formal wear to get a chance to talk to companies like Samsung and JPMorgan.

Even worse was the wait to enter the Canavan Arena, which some students say was multiple hours long by midday. Attendees braved the 80-degree weather with the hope of talking with representatives of companies like Johnson & Johnson and Crestron—and many never made it to the doors at all before the fair closed.

A couple of days following the event, Cherena Walker, Executive Director of the Stevens Career Center, sent an announcement to the Stevens community via email apologizing for the issues and promising that the Career Center would work to “better structure” future fairs. She also announced the creation of a “Career Fair Resume Book,” giving the chance for students to submit their resumes to any employers interested in receiving the compilation, with the promise that recruiters were enthusiastic about the idea and would reach out to students whose resumes piqued their interests.

Attendance was tracked in advance via Handshake. The email noted that over 2,200 students were in attendance. The space limitations of each venue were presumably known in advance by the organizers. It’s possible, then, that the average length of time students spent in a venue talking with employers significantly exceeded organizer expectations.

At this point, it seems that the options for organizers with regard to future Career Fairs include either a simple expansion of venue space, a time extension or staggered entrance system with reservations, or remote alternatives, like Zoom sessions or a continuation of the Resume Book.