The Department of Computer Science and Engineering will host its fourth annual Reverse Pitch event with a revamped format.
Reverse Pitch is an informal career event designed to match hiring tech companies with job-seeking students from the department. This year’s event will be held 5-7 p.m. Oct. 29 at Nebraska Innovation Campus. Each of the 15 participating organizations will have 5 minutes to present their work, business models, perks and open positions to students.
The event will feature a new structure that splits the pitches into three presentation sessions. All 15 companies will be briefly introduced at the beginning of the event in the Nebraska Innovation Campus auditorium. Students will then select which pitches they’d like to attend and rotate among breakout rooms throughout the event. Following all pitches, students can enter the banquet hall to ask questions and talk with representatives from the participating companies while enjoying free pizza.
“When Reverse Pitch was first created, it was a one-of-a-kind event. For our fourth event, it’s time to hit the refresh button to keep students coming back,” said event coordinator Jenna Huttenmaier. “The new model will allow our students more face-time with the companies they’re most interested in.”
While past events featured exclusively Nebraska-based organizations, the popularity and success of the series has garnered attention and inclusion requests from several companies located outside the state. This year’s new participants include Garmin, Silverline, Farm Credit Services and NRC Health. Returning organizations include Hudl, Spreetail, Firespring, Ameritas, Nelnet, Sandhills Global, Assurity, Talent Plus, Pen-Link, Don’t Panic Labs and Nobl.
“Reverse Pitch has grown significantly, and we’re fortunate enough to have a waiting list of fantastic companies that want to participate in the evening,” Huttenmaier said. “Each year we struggle with how to squeeze them all in, which is a good problem to have.”
More than 200 students have attended the event in previous years. Even if this year’s event is as successful, Huttenmaier said, there should still be plenty of opportunities available.
“The number of open jobs that these companies are trying to fill usually outnumbers the students at the event,” she said. “I think every single computer science, computer engineering, and software engineering student will benefit by attending, regardless of whether they’ve been in the past.”
Reverse Pitch is free and open to CSE and Raikes School students, though the department encourages students to register for the event in advance through EventBrite. Tickets can be reserved online.
