When we visited the IIT Careers Day last year, the halls inside BMICH were packed and buzzing with activity. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic requiring us to practice social distancing, events of such nature are no longer possible. Still, for many undergraduates, career fairs are important. It’s where they’ll land their internship or first job after graduating. For corporates, such events serve as a means of identifying and recruiting promising young talent. As such, this year the Informatics Institute of Technology chose to have a virtual careers day.
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The event was held on Microsoft Teams over the course of two days and saw the participation of 50+ companies. Each of them gave a 20-minute presentation about themselves and shared what opportunities they had for the students at IIT. Following each presentation, the students were allowed to ask any questions they had. The virtual IIT careers day saw several corporates participating. Auxenta, Creative Software, Ombio, Rootcode Labs, were among the 50+ corporates that participated.
“Amidst Covid-19 it was encouraging to witness over 50 companies participate at careers day and provide insights into internship opportunities and what it entails. In addition, alumni of IIT working in these companies being present and sharing their experience was valuable. On the whole it was a great success and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the companies, alumni, students and the placement team at IIT for all the efforts rendered towards the success of this event,” said Dean at IIT, Naomi Krishnarajah.
Sharing his thoughts on IIT virtual careers day, General Manager of UniverSL Software, Suneth Ranasinghe said, “The event was a good opportunity for us to provide an insight into our company. equally, we believe that the students too got exposure to our platforms.” Similar sentiments were shared by Assistant Manager – People Development of Ombio, Nuwan Ariyawansha who said, “It was a great method of bringing students closer to employers while allowing them to ask questions. We appreciate the organizing team at IIT for arranging this timely event to connect students and recruits. We hope to participate in more online events in the future as well.”
A representative from Creative Software added, “It was really impressive to see over 100 students taking part in the session on time and also raising questions confidently.” Rootcode Labs also stated, “It was a good experience to participate in an online career fair. We’re looking forward to working with some of the talented students we engaged with during the event.” Commending IIT’s efforts to conduct the event despite the restrictions, Infor Nexus Services stated, “This career day backed by technology has helped ensure the future manpower of the country is kept educated and hopeful. It was great to see so many students interacting and to know they have a keen interest in new technologies which are in demand ” Pearson Lanka too said, “Even though the world is facing a pandemic, IIT did not allow this to affect or hinder their students’ advancement in their respective fields. A highly commendable Virtual Career Fair was organized.”
For many IIT undergraduates, the careers day has been their stepping stone into the industry as interns. Highlighting the importance of internships Naomi Krishnarajah, Dean at IIT added, “ It provides real life exposure to the world of work where students harness their classroom knowledge with practical application and skills developed in a professional setting. The internship has the added advantage of developing professional contacts in pursuing a career in the chosen field.”
Many students commended IIT for its efforts to have a virtual careers day. Sharing his thoughts about the IIT Virtual Careers Day, 3rd-year placement student at IIT, Kushan Bhareti said, “While the effort put through to make this event happen during a very difficult time by IIT placement team is deeply appreciated” Uvindu Mendis, 3rd-year placement student at IIT shared similar sentiments, “The companies did an amazing job on showing off their processes, exposure and other related fields which led students to be interested in them.”
As we learned last year, for many students money isn’t the priority. Rather, they seek opportunities for growth in their careers from their first job. Equally, companies have acknowledged their request and worked towards offering such opportunities. Helping the two parties connect, the IIT virtual careers day has opened the path, despite the global pandemic, allowing several young graduates to take their first step into the industry.
