Future Forum brings valuable opportunities for IST students

by Stephanie Koons, IST staff writer

Students at Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology recently had an opportunity to jumpstart their careers by networking with representatives from a wide variety of companies and industries. Future Forum, which was held on Feb. 2 in the IST Building, was attended by 236 students majoring in IST and Security and Risk Analysis who met with recruiters from 49 companies in industry sectors such as government, consulting, finance, manufacturing and insurance.

According to Rita Griffith, a career counselor at the College IST, Future Forum is held every year in the spring with the intention of bringing together hiring managers from prominent companies with IST and SRA students who are seeking full-time, co-op and internship positions.

Large global corporations as well as smaller companies were in attendance at this year’s event, she said, and 11 of the 12 IST Corporate Associates were represented: Capital One, CSC – Federal Consulting Practice, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Deloitte Consulting, Ernst & Young LLP, National Security Agency, PNC Financial Services Group Inc., PPG Industries, PWC, Progressive Insurance, TATA Consultancy Services, and Unisys Corporation. Other companies that were represented at Future Forum included Accenture, Bank of America, General Electric, IBM,  Johnson & Johnson, and the U.S. Department of State.

Among the 49 companies that participated in this year’s Future Forum, Griffith said, 15 of them conducted formal interviews with students on Feb. 3 at the Nittany Lion Inn and in the IST Building.