NTID student works as government recruiter

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The oldest and largest employer in the United States has added one more member to its ranks, and she works right on the RIT campus.

Amanda Massab, who received her bachelor’s in business management at RIT in 2007, has begun a job with the Department of Defense while working on her master’s in human resource development. She has an office in NTID’s Center on Employment.

A Brooklyn native, Massab helps the agency recruit students for employment through its Student Training and Academic Recruitment program, created last year. RIT/NTID is one of four colleges in the program. Massab, who received extensive training at the Pentagon for her job, receives e-mail messages and constantly monitors agency Web sites to see what jobs are available and tries to match students interested in those fields with the available positions.

“I meet with the students who are interested in finding out more about what’s offered and I can see what their strengths and weaknesses are,” she says. “I tell them what they have to offer, whether it’s a full-time or part-time position or summer internship.”

Any RIT student is able to meet with Massab, who was born deaf and received a cochlear implant last year. But right now, she’s reaching out to deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The agency wants to increase the percentage of employees with hearing loss, she says. Her communication skills in sign language and speech allow her to easily talk with prospective hires who have hearing loss, as well as those who hear fine.

Working for the federal government won’t necessarily require a move to Washington, D.C. The career options are many. One week, Massab looked for motivated students who could work as a graphic designer, engineer or someone with a business background.

“You can go anywhere. We have military bases in every state and nearly 150 countries,” she says. “It’s a great place to develop your career.”

Massab also acts as a liaison between RIT and the agency during job fairs or if a speaker is requested to talk with students in the classroom.

She says her role helps RIT and its students, too. “We’re supporting each other,” she says. “We have a large talent pool here and I’m helping students looking for jobs. We work here as a team.”

Although this job will end when she graduates this spring, Massab says she hopes to continue working for the agency. She’s already got her foot in the door.

She’s not sure where her future will take her, but she knows she wants to continue helping people in the workplace.

“I enjoy working with people, coming up with different ideas and how to improve their employment productivity,” she says.