Students don't have long to wait to take part in the new Employment Opportunities Conference (EOC), scheduled for February 16. The EOC is a new job fair sponsored by the CareerCenter and will be held in addition to the usual Technical Internship Expo (TIE), which will take place on the same day.

The EOC is the first campus-wide job fair open to all Carnegie Mellon students. In the recent past, job events such as the BOC (Business Opportunities Conference) and TOC (Technical Opportunities Conference) were geared towards the business and technical students, so the EOC a change that will benefit all students. The event will be held from 1 to 6 p.m. in the UniversityCenter. Microsoft and IBM are co-sponsoring the event, and have donated money to help cover costs.

To promote interest in the new program, the CareerCenter is trying to get more non-profit organizations to attend, and are offering waivers for smaller companies who cannot afford the full attendance fee of $200. The fair is primarily for graduating seniors looking for full-time employment and students interested in summer internships. All student attendees are strongly suggested to wear professional business attire.

The CareerCenter is pleased that the EOC has generated great of interest from employers; approximately 65 companies have already signed up. This new program will not only be an opportunity for students,  but for the entire Carnegie Mellon community to show worldwide employers what it has to offer.

The Technical Internship Expo focuses on technical jobs and is only open to sophomores and juniors from 11 a.m. to noon. The CareerCenter and the Society for Women Engineers (SWE) are co-sponsoring the exposition. 

The evening before these two programs, the career center will sponsor a social event designed to get employers more interested in Pittsburgh and to allow them to "get a look at what's going on inside CMU," according to Judi Mancuso, the Associate Director for Recruiting and Employer Relations.

During this event, there will be time for employers to interact with faculty. Potential employers will also have the opportounity to learn why Carnegie Mellon students are skilled in many disciplines, as there will be open houses at each of the colleges the next morning.  

In addition to providing an opportunity for students to present their marketable skills, these two events are designed to give students a scope of the many possible employers around. Students are also given the chance to hand deliver resumes to potential employers. Mancusi added that this is "one more opportunity to connect students and employers … and that can't be a bad thing."

A list of employers can be found at the EOC website.

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