Tech fair makes DREAMs come true
The Data Resources for Eager & Analytical Minds (DREAM) hosted a career fair Tuesday open to all students interested in the information technology industry.
DREAM faculty advisor Rajeev Bukralia started the program to help students create connections and learn about new opportunities.
“He thought, ‘What is a good way that we could get employers and students in the same room helping students from first year all the way to our graduate students,’” said Katie Hodgdon, assistant director of the Career Development Center.
Hodgden said this career fair can be a starting place for many students to meet people in the industry that they want to work in, get advice and help them find internships with a variety of companies.
Mary Clair Toomajian, a representative for the company RSM, said supporting career fairs helps students find opportunities they may not have been aware.
“Especially for computer science tech majors, they might not know about some of the companies that are out there that aren’t the standard tech companies,” Toomajian stated.
Uday Puttireddi, a CIT student, said he came to the career fair looking for internships such as software engineering, data analysis or cyber security. His aspiration to work in this industry came from his love of video games and technology when he was younger, so pursuing a career in technology just made sense.
“I’ve had a lot of interest with tech. So I got to know all the new tech which is coming into the world, like even now AI and stuff,” Puttireddi said. “I have been interested in that ever since my childhood. Even my father is a software engineer.”
Career fairs like this one often lead students to internships where they learn valuable skills for their future careers. Justin Sands from Christiansen Farms said, “The work that our interns do is relied upon, it’s utilized and it’s looked at from every level of the organization from the very, very top, all the way through all the rest of them.”
Data Science PhD student Greeshma Kalsham, head of event management for the DREAM student organization, said that DREAM is a great opportunity for students trying to become more involved in computer science and technology.
“We organize events, do competitions and provide internship opportunities and also organize career fairs like this,” she said. “(We) make sure we have leaders and people from different universities and PhD graduate professors come over and have guest lectures,” she said.
To learn more about the DREAM student organization and the opportunities they can offer you, email MNSU dream at dream@mnsu.edu
Header photo: Tuesdays DREAM career fair was open to all students who want a better look into the tech industry. (Dalton Grubb/The Reporter)
Write to Andrea Schoenecker at andrea.schoenecker@mnsu.edu