Spring Engineering Career Fair sees more than 3,000 students in attendance

Thousands of students met with prospective employers during the spring 2016 NC State Engineering Career Fair held Feb. 3.

The career fair, one of the largest such events in the nation, is held in the Jane S. McKimmon Center on the NC State campus. The spring 2016 event included 207 companies, government agencies and academic units seeking to fill full-time, co-op and internship positions.

While most attendees are current NC State engineering students, the public is invited to attend and students from other universities in North Carolina and across the country regularly attend.

“We’re looking for a positive attitude and very motivated individuals who are open-minded and ready to take on any part of the construction business for us,” said Channing Chrismon, senior project manager with Landmark Builders of the Triad, Inc. and one of the company representatives talking to students at the fair. “Somebody that’s not afraid to get their hands dirty with regards to our entry-level positions, as well as being enthusiastic and open-minded about coming in and working with our staff.”

Students attending the career fair made sure to dress professionally and kept multiple copies of their resumes on hand. Many were undergraduates looking for co-op or internship opportunities that could help them improve their skills and increase their knowledge. Other students were either graduating in May or continuing education students that sought full-time positions.

“I actually went to the fall career fair and obviously people aren’t really going to be looking for summer interns yet, so that was a really good way to just get my name out there, talk to some companies, put my resume in and I got an interview as well,” said Melissa Leib, a sophomore chemical engineering student who came to this event seeking a summer internship. “So I was able to actually sit down and have that experience, and they were looking for a junior so obviously I didn’t get it, but it was still a really good experience to have.”

Students like Leib had a better chance of standing out when talking to employers because they were prepared. There was an expectation for students would not only sell who they are and what they’ve done with confidence, but also have some knowledge about the companies they were interested in.

“What we look for at career fairs are students who have an interest and degree plans that are applicable for the positions we will have available for full-time graduates or interns/co-ops,” said Peggy Freeby, a representative of Freese and Nichols, Inc. “What we look for in students is the entire package that they are bringing; their major, focus in their major, GPA, on-campus or off-campus extracurricular activities and leadership roles in those, work experience, etc.”

The career fair saw 3,864 total attendants. Of that number, 2,688 were students from NC State.

Dates for the two-day fall version of the career fair have not been set. Check students.engr.ncsu.edu/careerfair for more.