Students' free ride in NYIT's career cab

Driving around the Old Westbury campus in a solar-powered Prius, Yvonne Harrison yelled out to students through a bullhorn: "We're the career cab. Steering your career in the right direction. Would anybody like a ride?"

Some students looked puzzled and turned away. Others hopped in for a ride to class, as well as the chance to be quizzed on issues related to careers, energy and the environment.

It's New York Institute of Technology's answer to the Discovery Channel's "Cash Cab" reality quiz show. And Harrison, associate director of the career services office, rewarded correct answers not with cash but with raffle tickets for a netbook drawing at Thursday's annual job and internship fair.

Since mid-March, close to 100 students have taken advantage of the cab service, an initiative of Harrison's office and the school's Green Careers Network of students and alumni.

Students see it as "something fun on campus that shows a different side of the college than what they normally see. They feel like they're the 'stars' on a show many of them really enjoy," said Steven R. Maybloom, 44, who's working on his master's in energy management. He's also president of the Green Careers Network, and has served as the cab's "game show host," trying to get into "my best Wink Martindale persona."

Among the questions: How do you prepare for a job fair? How do you impress a recruiter? What does the greenhouse effect do? What should you do with old batteries?

Yvette Oloo, 24, waiting for the campus bus to take her to a design class when Harrison beckoned, said the questioning on career and energy best practices was useful. "It helps you think about things. It puts them in the front of your mind," said Oloo, an architecture major from Kenya, who walked away with six raffle tickets.

Nisanth Abraham, 22, an information technology major, said the experience "creates awareness of the job fair." The only reason he hopped in the cab was because he recognized Harrison, who had helped him with his resume and mock interviewing.

"There is a positive multiplier effect, a virtuous cycle" to the endeavor, said David Schieren, chief executive of EmPowerSolar, a solar energy firm in Island Park, which is helping to fund the career cab, as is the school of engineering and computing sciences. Students "become educated consumers," he said. "They educate their friends and families."