Help Wanted, Companies Take Advantage of Large Attendance at Photonics East

BOSTON, Nov. 8 -- The crowd showed no signs of slowing down on Tuesday, as a steady stream of industry professionals browsed the exhibit floor at the Hynes Convention Center during the second day of Photonics East. Tucked away in the corner of exhibit hall B were a handful of companies hoping to catch the eye of that potential employee who might be thinking of a job change, or perhaps a college senior exploring his options before graduation.
Even though Photonics East is no job fair, companies such as Lucent Technologies -- which is looking to fill thousands of positions, and Quantum Bridge Communications -- which is looking to fill 35 positions, were hoping that at least some of the thousands of industry professionals who walked through the convention center doors would be looking for a job.
Very bright people want very bright challenges, said Joe Vittoe of Quantum Bridge Communications, a privately held developer of optical access networking products located in North Andover Mass. Vittoe said that his company would be happy if they got just one new employee out of the three-day effort in Boston.
Newport Corp. was also looking to hire some of the industry's best and brightest. When asked what photonics professionals look for in a company, Newport's Andre Huntsberger was quick to respond:
A technical challenge, cutting edge equipment, tools and a good team of people with strong technical expertise on staff, Huntsberger said.
Newport, which needs to fill about 200 positions, had collected a handful of applications since setting up shop on Monday but, because Photonics East is a technical- and course-based event, not a lot of people come with résumés in hand. The consensus in the employment section was that it was worth it just to let people know that the opportunities are out there.