Kent State hosted the fourth annual IT Career Expo Thursday in the Kent State Ballroom.

Local businesses came to inform students in the IT field about the 12 to 20 different disciplines and job opportunities within the career field, said Ryan Conlon, instructor of management and information systems, and the co-director of the expo.

Professionals from different companies such as CU Connect, First Energy, Goodyear, Highland Software, Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts and several others set up all the information that they had to offer at the 19 different destination tables.

“The students seem very curious, which I think is a good sign,” said Katie George, a Goodyear representative and Kent State alumna. “We’re focused on making the students aware of the opportunities that the IT career has to offer, and how they can use IT to further the current disciplines that they are already studying.”

Students were able to interact with professionals at the tables and get information on the different career paths in IT. Some of the tables gave students the opportunity to have their resumes reviewed, learn about job opportunities and internships and get student advising.

Most of the tables focused on the different disciplines in IT, such as:

• IT Project Management

• Business Requirements and Business Analysis

• Quality Management and Quality Assurance

• Executive Management

• Security Systems and Administration

• Change Management

• Software Development and Maintenance

• Infrastructure Network, Administration, and System Enterprise Architecture

• IT Compliance and Risk Management

• Databases and Data Mining

• Testing and Test Methodology

• Hardware and Operations Infrastructure

“I’m pretty impressed with this event,” said Kenneth Agee, senior computer information system major. “I didn’t expect there to be this many options to choose from, as far as career paths.”

Agee said that he is thinking about a career in networking or databases, but he said he used Thursday’s event to learn more about the other options and to network.

Along with the professionals, IT student organizations, such as HacKSU, Management Information Systems Association and a newly formed organization called The Digital Scientist, used the expo to inform students of the things that they are doing around campus. Steven Davic, senior computer information systems major and marketing officer of MISA, said that MISA attended the event because it provides a link for students to network with corporations in the IT field.

“This is a great event because it gives kids the opportunity to learn about what all IT has to offer,” Davic said.

Some students with majors outside of computer sciences also attended the event.

“I think this event is good because it helped me expand my knowledge and information,” said Badr Algain, senior pre-finance major. “I have a CS minor and I think learning both the business and the computer side will make me more competitive when I graduate.”

Contact Chenayle Bradford at [email protected].