The Argosy Gymnasium buzzed with opportunity for Champlain students and employers alike on Wednesday, October 18, at the annual Fall Career Fair. Hosted by the Career Collaborative, this year’s Fall Career Fair welcomed some 60 employers, 20 Champlain College alumni, and more than 700 students, all looking to grow their networks.
“We have always had good attendance at our fairs; however, last week’s event had some of the highest attendance ever,” says Pat Boera, associate director of the Career Collaborative. In fact, every Champlain student attends at least one career fair as part of their InSight milestone requirements.
Sophomore Computer Networking & Cybersecurity student Savannah Ciak ’26 was among the hundreds of students who came prepared to make an impression. Having already applied to a few of the internships being promoted at the fair, she looked forward to chatting with the recruiters directly.
“It’s just nice to see the people who are actually hiring for those jobs. I feel like it makes it more personable, and if they know your face and attach it to your name when they’re reading the application, I feel like that might increase your chances of actually getting it,” she says.
“Plus, it’s amazing for networking—it’s great for that,” adds friend and fellow Computer Networking & Cybersecurity sophomore Lily Pouliot ’26. Together, Ciak and Pouliot do communications and outreach for the Leahy Center’s high school-level CyberTech program, and used the Fall Career Fair as an opportunity to connect with a representative from the City of Burlington to expand internship opportunities for the younger students they work with.
On the Other Side of the Table
From local organizations and government offices to global companies at the tops of their fields, recruiters brought displays, swag, business cards, and information to attract Champlain talent from every major. The Career Collaborative made it easy for students to browse the fair. Each employer displayed a sign at their table indicating what positions they have available and the Champlain majors that correlate with those positions.
This year, Accounting and Finance alum Adam Lane ’20 was among those who returned to Champlain’s career fair to stand on the other side of the table. The young alum now works as a senior associate in auditing at the the fifth largest accounting firm in the world, RSM.
“We’re looking for students of all ages and levels, and we’re hiring for internships and full-time,” Lane says.
“There are so many different lines of business in consulting, it really depends on how the economy is working right now, but audit and tax is usually always hiring,” adds his colleague Harrison Naylor.
Across the gym, Marketing alum Christina Baldwin ’15 manned the table for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Office of Contracting (USCIS Contracting) for the second year in a row. She’s part of a team that processes the hardware, software, and services that keep immigration offices across the country running smoothly. Right now, she’s looking for January interns to join her team in Williston, Vermont, with opportunities to transition to full-time after graduation.
Baldwin’s office is a regular at the Fall Career Fair and is one of the many employers to take notice of what sets Champlain students apart when they join the team. “I would say they’re energetic, they’re personable, they think outside the box, they try to find new ways to do things, and they’re super creative,” says Tara Bombardier, a supervisory management program analyst at USCIS Contracting.
“They have an ability to kind of go with the flow so I can email them and say, ‘Hey, can you do this instead of that?’ and then they just do that. Really great employees,” she says.
Employers Included:
- Aon
- City of Burlington
- ComCode GmbH
- Fastenal Company
- GlobalFoundries
- Hall Communications, Inc.
- Marsh Captive Solutions
- Media Factory
- MicroStrain by HBK
- National Life Group
- New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU)
- NFI Vermont, Inc.
- Northwestern Counseling & Support Services (NCSS)
- NRG Systems
- NuHarbor Security
- Office of Senator Bernie Sanders
- OnLogic
- Peace Corps
- RSM US LLC
- State of Vermont
- WFFF FOX44 and WVNY ABC22
- Wolfjaw Studios
