Students polish job-seeking skills at Engineering Career Success Conference

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Nearly 200 students took the initiative to engineer a career on September 16 at the Fawcett Center.

Held several days before the annual Engineering Expo career fair, the Engineering Career Success Conference is designed to help graduating students sharpen their job-seeking skills by meeting with potential recruiters. More than 50 company representatives from over 20 employers participated in the conference, including OEConnection, Honda and Marathon Petroleum Company.

Students connected with employers during networking roundtable discussions.
Students connected with employers during networking roundtable discussions.
“I came to try to figure out ways to improve my own candidate profile and to get into the mind of potential employers to see what they’re looking for and what stands out for them in an application,” said welding engineering major Alex Griffith.
 

Students felt the information shared at the event boosted their confidence before heading into the Expo and gave them a leg up on the competition.

“One thing I’ve learned today is that when I’m presenting myself to an interviewer, it’s important to present how I can work together with the employees of that company,” said Griffith. “How I interact with them and how much they like me as a person is so much more important than just going over the coursework I’ve done the last few years.”

Hosted by Engineering Career Services (ECS) and national internship/co-op honorary society Kappa Theta Epsilon, the event provided multiple opportunities to help students catapult their careers. The day began with an employer panel dishing out job-seeking advice, followed by breakout sessions focused on everything from salary negotiation and financial wellness to interviewing skills and the benefits of using LinkedIn. The event concluded with networking roundtable discussions, allowing students to interact with a diverse array of employers. Participating students also enjoyed several other advantages, including professional headshots, resume reviews and mock interviews, not to mention a delicious spread of complimentary appetizers.

Students practiced their job interviewing skills during mock interviews.
Students practiced their job interviewing skills during mock interviews.

"My advice to other students is to take more advantage of ECS,” said welding engineering student Nicholas Hillard. “I’ve tried going through the Expo and doing the elevator pitch and never really had much success with it. I think if I had utilized ECS a little bit more, I would’ve been more successful."

But employers say students aren’t the only ones who benefit from attending the conference. Companies like Hyland Software like being able to help students prepare for the upcoming Expo, where they frequently recruit Buckeye engineers for internships. Last year, 28 of Hyland’s 133 interns were Ohio State students, and many internships often lead to fulltime positions.

“We have found that the students who come out of Ohio State are consistently among our highest producers,” said Jen Murphy, Hyland’s campus relations program manager. “Some of them can come in at a junior level and produce with some of the higher level employees, so we feel that we get really high quality students from the engineering program.”

The Engineering Expo will be on September 20 and 21 at the Ohio Union.

Categories: CollegeStudents