The Engineering Career Fair, held every fall and spring, was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday at the McKimmon Center. Each day, over 3,000 students looking to secure internships, co-ops and full-time jobs attended the fair to meet the 329 participating companies.
The fair is planned and organized a year ahead of time, and run by student volunteers from the engineering college. Brian Koehler, director of student engagement for NC State’s College of Engineering, stressed the importance of student managers and volunteers responsible for coordinating the logistics of the event.
“Our red shirt team is the one that makes the magic happen,” Koehler said, referring to the student managers and volunteers.
Neelam Modi, a fourth-year studying biomedical engineering and economics, and Olivia Gartz, a third-year studying mechanical engineering, are two student managers for the events who first started as volunteers as first-year students.
Modi discussed the evolution of the career fair over the time she has coordinated and volunteered.
“In the past, we have strived for quantity over quality aspect,” Modi said. “One of the first career fairs I helped coordinate, we had over 370 companies come to the fall career fair. Now, we’ve brought that down to a pretty good size, around 330. I think that’s helped boost the quality over quantity aspect. No longer are we trying to become the biggest career fair in the nation, but just the best career fair in the nation. That’s spoken volumes in how many people have gotten jobs.”
Gartz echoed the sentiment by discussing how a reduction in number does not mean reduction in value.
“We have the second biggest, but it’s not really about being the biggest: it’s about being the best,” Gartz said. “We just want people to find their dream job. We make it, logistically, as easy as possible for students to go and talk to companies that they want to. We try to create a place the companies want to come to, so the Amazons and the Facebooks will come year after year to the career fair.”
NC State students, alumni and college students from across the nation come to this career fair in search of their dream jobs, and companies register for this event in search of dream employees.
Sue Holaday, human resources manager for Summit Design and Engineering Services, remarked on why her company has come to the career fair several times in the past.
“NC State certainly has a strong reputation in engineering in North Carolina,” Holaday said. “So you’re the students we want to target. You really put on a great career fair. The students always come out and support it. You have a good diverse group of employers here, as well.”
Max Robbins, a third-year studying electrical engineering, is one of those supportive students. Robbins attended the fair during his first and second years, and discussed how the fairs have helped him develop his career skills.
“You have to do all you can to get a job in this day and age,” Robbins said. “So, I’m really just trying to take advantage of everything. Sometimes, if you go the extra mile and talk to the employer, that actually helps. Getting a business card or personal contact can help.”
The engineering fair has become one of the largest of its kind in the country, and Koehler believes that the passion and energy brought by students and companies alike contribute to its prosperity.
“We put this on for nothing other than two words: student success,” Koehler said. “This event not only helps students achieve their dream jobs, but helps support everything we try to accomplish collectively in our College of Engineering, in that it gives us many of the sound-bites or motivation to lock in the very best and brightest in the first place.”
