CUNY launched a new initiative that encourages New York City’s leading employers to level up their businesses by partnering with CUNY through student recruitment.
The campaign, “Power Your Business with CUNY,” was announced on Jan. 27 to incentivize industry leaders to create more opportunities for graduating students.
According to CUNY Newswire, the campaign connects recruiters to the CUNY Industry Support Hub. The resource invites businesses to access existing opportunities within CUNY and create paid opportunities for students to hone their talents and skills.
Recruiters can access the Industry Support Hub on the official CUNY website.
There, employers will be directed to fill out an intake form or email TIIP@cuny.edu to initiate a collaboration between CUNY students and their company.
At a recruiting event hosted by Queens nonprofit New York Edge in the CUNY@Amazon classroom, 93% of interviewed students received job offers, according to CUNY Newswire. Students can begin to access these expanded professional opportunities across the semester on platforms such as LinkedIn, Google, TaxiTV, YouTube and CUNY’s social media accounts.
CUNY Vice Chancellor for Career Engagement & Industry Partnerships Lauren Andersen endorsed existing employer partnerships, emphasizing that CUNY students are the driving force behind a company’s success.
“CUNY students and faculty are vital to the success of so many organizations across the city and around the world,” Andersen said.
“With our on-demand support hub, we’re making it easier for industry partners to engage with CUNY and find the talent and resources they seek.”
The campaign was also bolstered by an opening message from CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez, urging employers to hire CUNY graduates.
“We’re opening the spring semester with a call to employers to hire our graduates,” Rodríguez said.
“CUNY students offer formidable skills, and we are turning up the volume to show employers just how much they stand to benefit from collaborating with us to meet their need for talent.”
Executives who have previously partnered with CUNY to promote professional development delivered their personal testimonies, endorsing CUNY and the benefits of hiring its students.
One such employer is Jeff Aronson, the co-founder and managing principal at Centerbridge Partners, a private investment firm. Aronson testified to the unique career-ready qualities that CUNY students bring to the table during employment.
“We have been partnering with CUNY since 2018, and it has been what I would describe as a win-win,” Aronson told CUNY Newswire.
“We love working with CUNY students. They are smart. They are hardworking. And most importantly, they have grit.”
Other company executives featured in the campaign launch were John Waldron, president and COO at Goldman Sachs and Jocelyn Weyrauch, senior manager for human resources at TD Bank, who expressed their advocacy for this project as well.
