Prospective Employers

The Department of Computer Science and the University have several methods to aid employers who wish to recruit our students:

• We sponsor an active internship program.

• We offer a Research and Development Internship (RDI). Described briefly, the RDI program augments NIU’s existing internship program by allowing our students (both undergraduate and graduate) to work during the school year in addition to summer internships, thereby providing continuity in employer/student relationships. Faculty recommendations identify the “best of our best” students for such internships.

• An informal recruiting method is to send Daniel Rogness, the Assistant to the Chair, an email specifying the job description, any visa restrictions, job location, and contact information. We will then broadcast this information to our student population.

• Another informal way to connect with students is to serve as a guest speaker for our student chapter of the ACM. Employers should not treat an ACM presentation as a direct forum for recruiting — the presentations are instead intended to increase students’ knowledge about a topic or about the workplace in general, not to be a recruiting presentation for a specific company. Nonetheless, an informational presentation provides recruiters with the chance to meet students in an informal way, which might well lead to making a job offer later. Contact ACM Advisor Geoffrey Decker gdecker@niu.edu to be put on the prospective speaker list.

• A more formal recruiting method involves working with our campus Career Services office, 815-753-1641. The office provides several services:

  • A Job Fair and an Internship Fair every February and October. Recruiters can set up at the fairs and talk to students in person. We recommend attending the fall fair even if looking for a May hire; some of our best students are snapped up early.
  • On-campus interviewing.
  • Online job and internship postings at the Career Services recruiting site, Victor ERecruiting.
  • Advice for setting up a Meet the Firm gathering in conjunction with the job fairs/on-campus interviewing, and information about running job ads in the Northern Star. In general, Career Services is your “go to” department for anything and everything you need to recruit NIU students formally.

Thank you for considering our students. We think you’ll be pleased with the skills and work ethic of our majors.