Creating Opportunities to Find a Career that Fits

Derek Favret, a manufacturing engineering supervisor at RBC Bearings, was sharing insights into the company’s hiring process with students gathered at his booth at the Career Development Center’s Fall Career Fair, when, suddenly, he had a question for them.

“At RBC, our main goal is to find a great fit for you,” Favret explained. “While we care about your existing skills, what we are most interested in is what you really want to do. Why do you think I’d say that?” he asked them.

“Is it because people are inspired when they do work that they care about?” answered Loydon Henry-Phillip '26, a mechanical engineering major.

“I couldn’t have said that better,” Favret replied.

Favret was one of more than 100 employers who took part in the two-day Career Development Center’s Fall Career Fair that drew hundreds of students to the Beckerman Recreation Center. Students were seeking full-time employment or internships and the chance to network with employers and recruiters.

Favret said he likes attending fairs at the University of New Haven because the students RBC has hired are “strong communicators and hard working. The faculty and staff know what employers need, and they do a great job of providing real-world experience, so they are well prepared.”

Henry-Phillip said he initially found the prospect of talking with employers “really nerve wracking.” But, within a half hour of arriving, he’d already spoken with three different recruiters about internship possibilities, asked lots of questions, and passed out his resume. “They’ve all been welcoming and encouraging,” he said.

‘I see me in them’

Students were eager to speak with representatives from companies including Amuse Technologies, General Dynamics Electric Boat, M&T Bank, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Spire Orthopedic Partners, the City of New Haven, the U.S. Border Patrol, Coastal Connecticut Counseling, and the IRS Criminal Investigation.

Also taking part in the fair were representatives from nine local police departments, state police from Connecticut and New York, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the FBI, as well as Catalyst CT, Columbia Dental, Hartford HealthCare, and Nuvance Health.

At the Eversource Energy booth, Andrea Atkinson-Downer '08, MBA '14, a lead engineer, let students know that the company – which serves four million electric, gas, and water customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire and has 10,000 employees – is “hiring across ALL fields!” she emphatically noted.

She encouraged the students to scan the QR code at her booth as human resource representatives were waiting to answer questions. She urged them to set up profiles on the company website, to apply for internships or full-time employment opportunities, and to continually update their profiles because that’s how she got her job there. “The company was looking at me,” she said. “Never let an opportunity pass by.”

Atkinson-Downer said she always wants to put students at ease when they step up to share a resume or ask questions. “I see me in them” she said. “I remember being a student here, coming to the career fair and being unsure about what I wanted to do next.

“Eversource loves to come here because we know there is great talent coming from the University of New Haven,” Atkinson-Downer continued. “We have a deep connection to this University.”

‘Really prepared’

Matt Caporale, M.A., executive director of the Career Development Center, called the employers “true partners who play a crucial role in helping the University achieve its goals of positive career outcomes for our students.”

Taylor Darville ’21 M.S. and Sai Pujitha Karanam ’20 M.S., assistant project managers, were part of a team representing the Cumming Group of Westport, a project management service company. Both said they were happy to take part in the event because the University had such an impact on their careers.

Both were civil engineering graduate students at the University. They didn’t know each other while pursuing their master’s degrees, but now they are colleagues working on Cumming Group projects with Yale University. Karanam spoke with students about the richly varied nature of her work.

Darville said the work he does taps into what he learned as a students in the Tagliatela College of Engineering, adding that the University also helped to shape his work ethic and professionalism.

“I can attribute a lot of that to the University and to one professor in particular, our adviser Dr. Byungik Chang. You think he’s tough and then you get out into the world, and you realize that he and the University have really prepared you. If you can get through him, you can work for us.”

"They ask questions and have great resumes that are concise and informative."Taylor Darville ’21 M.S.

Darville said he was impressed by the students he talked with at the fair. “They ask questions and have great resumes that are concise and informative.”

Megan Moriarty ’12, ’14 MBA, an assurance manager with Marcum LLP, said that when the firm has hired University of New Haven students, they are engaged and hardworking team players. She said she was excited to talk with students about Marcum and the opportunities that can come from a career in accounting and finance.

“I’ve been at Marcum since I graduated from the University,” she said. “I love my work, the people I work with, the flexibility of the schedule, and the chance to travel. We look forward to finding that connection and the students who can be the next fit.”