Employers Speed-Pitch Future Workforce

The FBI sounded interesting. Yale’s IT woman made a passionate pitch. The library and the Yale police made their cases. Aspiring forensic scientist Hector Morales heard them out and wondered: Where does his future lie?

Morales and 139 fellow city public-school grads engaged in that future in the vast cavern called the Yale Commons during a speed-dating style event held Wednesday afternoon.

The event was an internship/career fair organized by New Haven Promise, the 12-year-old scholarship and mentoring program that guarantees some 750 qualifying students each year a free ride to higher education in 18 Connecticut-based colleges and universities. The annual event returned in-person for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began. The grads — who are currently in college with the help of Promise scholarships — hopped from table to table to hear pitches from 52 employers about why they should apply for a summer internship.

The event reflected the vision of New Haven Promise CEO Patricia Melton (at right in above photo), who put together Wednesday’s event: Scholarships are the first step in a broader effort to get New Haven public-schoolers, many of them from lower-income and working Black or Latino households, on a path to pursue their dreams in the local economy. The event gives the ​“scholars,” who are often the first in their families to attend college, access to summer internships that open doors to challenging, well-paying careers (that usually go to suburban middle-class students). Local employers get a chance to find talented young people to build their workforce for the future.

“There’s incredible talent here,” Melton said, reflecting on New Haven’s current real-estate and tech booms. ​“A building without people in it is just a building. Economic development needs to mean investment in talent. That is what will drive our economy in perpetuity. “

In other words, New Haven’s economic future lies in landing ambitious up-and-comers like Hector Morales (at left in above photo) to careers right here rather than losing them to other communities.

Morales has focused on becoming a forensic scientist since a Hillhouse High School teacher showed his class a video about a murder case solved when investigators tied the DNA from a pine cone found in a suspect’s truck to a tree next to a stream where the body was found.

“That locked me in,” he said.

Morales made the dean’s list at Gateway Community College. He plans to major in forensic science when he begins his junior year at University of New Haven in the fall.

He was looking for the right summer opportunity to buttress that plan as he and fellow Promise ​“scholars” Alston Chen and Kevin Rodriguez moved from table to table at Commons to hear employers’ pitches at Wednesday’s fair.

Joanne Santiago (above at left) pitched the scholar trio hard at a Yale Information Technologies department table covered with pen and key-chain swag.

Morales told her about his interest in ​“getting my feet wet with technology” to start on his path to a forensic science career. Chen (second from left in photo) spoke of his interest in coding. 

Santiago told the students an internship in her department would open up opportunities for them. They would work with ​“a wide range of people.” On a typical day they might help flustered university employees figure out how to log in to their computers, fix a bug in a portal that’s failing to process credit-card payments, trouble-shoot a Zoom lesson that’s not working in the music school.

“Will we need to know how to fix credit-card payments?” asked Chen.

“You will not go on any situation on your own,” Santiago replied. ​“Experienced people” will accompany you.

Santiago, an associate director of campus technology at Yale, has 30 years of IT experience. She told the students how she’s a first-generation college graduate. Morales, too, is the first person in his family to attend college.

As the bell rang for the next round of table visits, Santiago took the students’ resumes. She handed them info on the department and urged them to apply for the summer internships.

“I’m here trying to recruit the next generation of workers, so when I retire, Yale is in good shape,” said Santiago. ​“People of color have always had extra challenges. Before I leave the work, I want to make sure they see someone like them can succeed” in the field.

Morales gravitated to the FBI table for obvious reasons. He was concerned, however, about the number of advanced-education years required to land a job. He also heard about how competitive it is to land a spot there.

He and Chen and Rodriguez ended up at two different library tables, one for the Beinecke rare book library, the other for the university-wide library system.

Ray Frohlich (at right in above photo), an IT leader in the latter department made the pitch for the library system, where he oversees client services and IT operations. Frohlich pitched at the previous in-person Promise fair three years ago. One of the student attendees ended up obtaining an internship in the department. The student has since graduated and returned to the department full time as a staff engineer — the storyline the Promise fair is designed to create.

Frohlich told the three students about the library’s work. 

He combined enthusiasm for his department with a soft sell. He asked about their interests. Morales mentioned forensics. Frohlich mentioned the FBI table as a possible fit.

Frohlich also told Morales about a forensic lab the library system uses. ​“I can connect you with that team,” he said. Morales wanted to hear more. Frohlich later told the Independent that Yale Library ​“uses forensic tools and techniques to capture collections data from digital media.”

“Do what you excites you if you can,” Frohlich advised the trio on Wednesday before they left for other tables. Later on, he emailed Morales to follow up.

At day’s end, Morales concluded that the library might in fact be the right fit. He planned to submit his application there for the coming summer.

Click on the video below to watch a recent conversation with Promise CEO Patricia Melton on WNHH FM’s ​“Dateline New Haven.” And click here to read a recent article about a new fellowship that Yale and Promise have teamed up on to pay up to $20,000 in annual tuition and fees at four Southern-based Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) for eligible New Haven students.