IST field trip gives students glimpse of their future

IST’s Office of Career Solutions recently escorted more than 40 students to Booz Allen Hamilton and CyberPoint International headquarters to learn firsthand about the companies and get a sense of their corporate cultures.

Students met with executives from both companies, toured facilities and participated in demos and presentations to better understand both companies’ daily work. The companies differing sizes, atmospheres and fields of work allowed students to learn about potential career directions.

At Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the country’s largest technology and management firms, located in McLean, Virginia, students explored a “technology petting zoo,” which showcased “hot-off-the-press” technology before it is available to the public.

Penn State IST/SRA alumni, who are currently employed by Booz Allen Hamilton, also met with students to answer questions about working for the company and how their Penn State IST education prepared them for such work.

“It was great to be able to network with a group of Penn State graduates and ask them questions because they are very relatable and have gone through what we as students are currently going through,” said Mary Lieb, an IST student and the student field trip lead.

The students spent the second-half of their day at CyberPoint International, a global provider of security products, located in Baltimore, Maryland. Students participated in demos using recently developed software that salvages information from damaged hard drives. Students also engaged in a social engineering and computer forensics activity that examined a computers application and made predictions about its owner.

Students attended networking sessions with a variety of employees, from senior associates to recent interns, including the CEO and Founder of CyberPoint International, Karl Gumtow.

“It is a good way to get your name and your face out there to potential employers. If you asked the right questions and talked to the right people, you could come out of that trip with an interview,” said Tammara Ross, an IST student who went on the field trip.

Lieb recommends that students participate in field trips like these in the future. She said, “A nice message to take away was that both companies are looking for smart, hardworking people and they absolutely love IST graduates from Penn State.”