Save The Date: HBCU CONNECT Fall Virtual Career Fair 2026 For Students, Alumni, and Professionals

There is a version of the career fair most of us grew up with: a gymnasium, a folding table, a stack of resumes that gets thinner as the good conversations run long, and a two hour drive home. It works, but it asks a lot of you before you ever shake a hand.

On Wednesday, October 21st, we are doing it differently. We are expecting over 50 hiring companies at the HBCU CONNECT Fall Virtual Career Fair, all in one place, online, from 9:00am to 5:00pm ET. It is free for job seekers. There is no travel, no hotel, and no need to burn a vacation day to be there.

Who is hiring

This is not a room full of logos collecting resumes for a database. These are recruiters with open roles, and the range is deliberately wide. Here is the full roster as it stands today:

• Healthcare and life sciences -- Pfizer, AbbVie, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Viatris, Boston Children's Hospital, Indiana University Health, Beth Israel Lahey Health, Bronson Healthcare, CareSource, U.S. Renal Care, Sunrise Senior Living
• Government and public service -- Aptive Resources supporting the Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Maximus, Dallas Police Department, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), District 10
• Education -- Columbia University, USC Marshall School of Business, Loudoun County Public Schools, Stride
• Technology, data and gaming -- Esri, Nintendo of America
• Banking, investing and insurance -- Truist, Janus Henderson Investors, Erie Indemnity Company, Old Republic Commercial Risk
• Consumer, retail and lifestyle brands -- Walgreens, Sephora USA, NASCAR, Subaru of America, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
• Food, agriculture and supply chain -- Performance Food Group, ofi (Olam Food Ingredients)
• Energy, environment and engineering -- Freeport-McMoRan, Reworld Waste, Verdantas
• Homebuilding and real estate -- Taylor Morrison

If you have ever wondered whether your major "fits" a career fair, look at that list again. A biology degree has a path into Pfizer and into the Columbus Zoo. A GIS or analytics background belongs at Esri or Verdantas. A criminal justice major has Dallas PD and Customs and Border Protection in the same room as Truist and Janus Henderson. Education, public health, engineering, marketing, finance, skilled trades -- the employers coming on October 21st are not recruiting for one narrow lane.

Employers are still booking booths. If a company you are watching is not on this list yet, check back before the 21st.

Why virtual actually works in your favor

In a physical career fair, you get the recruiters who happened to travel to your city. Online, you get the ones hiring nationwide. That difference matters most for the people a traditional fair quietly filters out: the student without a car, the graduate working full time who cannot take a Wednesday off, the alum in a small market where none of these companies have an office, the parent who cannot spend a day away from home.

You will be able to move between company booths, chat with recruiters in real time, view open positions, and submit your resume directly -- from a laptop or a phone.

How to show up prepared

The people who get the most out of a virtual fair are the ones who do about twenty minutes of homework first. Before October 21st:

• Update your resume and upload it to your HBCU CONNECT profile. Recruiters at the fair can pull it instantly. A current resume already in the system is the single highest leverage thing you can do.
• Pick your top five employers from the list above and read what they are hiring for. Walking into a booth with a specific role in mind changes the conversation from "tell me about yourself" to "let's talk about this job."
• Write two sentences about what you do. Not a speech. Two sentences you can drop into a chat window without stalling.
• Log in early. The first hour is the least crowded, and recruiters are freshest.

Register

Registration is open now and takes about a minute. Reserve your spot, then put October 21st on your calendar with a reminder the day before.

Register for the HBCU CONNECT Fall Virtual Career Fair »

Wednesday, October 21st, 2026 | 9:00am to 5:00pm ET | Free for job seekers | Online

Bring the resume. We will bring the employers.