January Itch: Time for a New Job?

January is the most popular time to search for a new job and, this year, you can do it virtually thanks to the MIT Alumni Virtual Career Fair. You can sign up to access select employers who want to hire MIT talent—whether you want an immediate opportunity or are thinking about future options.

The online recruiting event, set for January 27, invites alumni to preview company profiles and job listings ahead of time and then log in between noon to 4:00 p.m. EST for a live chat with a company representative. Log in from anywhere using a computer, tablet, or smartphone to talk to reps from a growing list of companies including the Ford Motor Company, JP Morgan Chase, Uber, End-to-End Analytics, and Relative Dynamics. Other companies include Jane Street, PA Consulting, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Novus Partners.

At the last fair in October, alumni held 850 chats with company representatives about immediate opportunities as well as long-term prospects and hiring trends.

Many of the interviewers will be MIT graduates themselves. “We have a number of MIT grads on staff, so there’s an instant level of comfort and common ground—on both sides of the interview table—when we talk with other MIT alums,” says Tom Davis ’84, SM ’85, one of three alumni executives from End to End Analytics who will be available to chat. E2E has recently added its 50^th staff member and is looking to grow quickly: “our growth is largely paced now by our ability to add the right members to our team.”

And why would MIT alumni be a good fit for E2E?

“We specialize in some fairly arcane fields like operations research and supply chain management, and we know MIT has tremendous programs in those areas,” Davis says. “Hiring folks who have both the rigorous classroom training and some hands-on, real-world experience is a no brainer. But perhaps most important is that special ability MIT people have to solve problems they haven’t seen before. While we generally start by looking at basic credentials—what course were you?—we have also successfully hired from not-so-obvious backgrounds when we encountered candidates who were more self-taught.”

The Ford Motor Company is repeating its participation in MIT’s Virtual Career because it’s a great opportunity to reach MIT alumni across the country for positions in IT and Product Development teams, as well as other areas, says Felicity Hirsh, global IT audit director. Other opportunities could involve working on new technologies, cyber security, cloud usage, and mobile apps.

“With the event being virtual, we can have a larger Ford team supporting the event and be able to interact with more candidates. Following the event, we will be able to continue those conversations with candidates and help them along the hiring process.”

Why are MIT alumni a good fit for Ford?

“As we continue to evolve into both an auto and mobility company—there are a lot of opportunities for MIT students and alumni to use their technical research and problem-solving skills to help Ford change the way the world moves and make peoples’ lives better,” Hirsh says. “We are looking for the future innovators to help us develop mobility solutions—including our autonomous fleet.”

MIT Alumni Virtual Career Fair logistics are easy. Log in with your MIT Alumni Infinite Connection account with your password or with LinkedIn, Facebook, Google, or Twitter. On the day of the fair, you can engage with each company at their booth. And then just type—one-on-one conversations with company representatives are text-based chat. And, after the fair, companies can search a resume book of registered MIT candidates. Register now to start exploring.