Michigan Tech College of Business Newsblog

Tag: career fair

Fall 2014 Career Fair Largest in Michigan Tech History

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[youtube]http://youtu.be/GywICI9i7H4[/youtube]

Over 300 companies from across the country packed the Student Development Complex at Michigan Tech yesterday for the Career Fair. Students double and triple checked their resumes and were determined to leave a lasting impression for their prospective employers.

Career Services Director Steve Patchin explained how the state of the economy impacts the job market.

“Right now, there’s a shortage of talent out there, especially in the areas of STEM,” he said.  “We have the baby boomers that are going to be retiring.  They kind of held that off in 2008 when the market tanked and their retirement savings went down quite a bit.  That’s recovered since then.  So, now they’re retiring, the economy’s on the rebound and the companies need talent.”

Students lined up in front of booths and answered questions about career achievements and previous experience.  MTU students have a great reputation as evident by the over 90% job placement rate for those graduating from Tech, along with payscale.com ranking Michigan Tech graduates in the top ten amongst the highest salaries in the country.

“I call them “well prepared and job ready”,” John Dau from DTE Energy said.  “The university does an awesome job with the students to get them prepared, not only for internships and co–ops, but extremely well prepared for the working world once they come out of the university, ready to work full time.”

Amazon.com made its first appearance ever at the career fair, and are looking for specific skills that they are sure to find here today.

“We look a lot for algorithms, data structures, design patterns…so Amazon is all about big data and machine learning. And lots of large scale, high computational systems, with hundreds of thousands of transactions per second. So having software engineers and developers that are really strong in the fundamentals is core,” Garret Gaw from Amazon said.

What goes into preparing for attending a career fair?

“I generally prepare by highlighting my top companies and making sure that my resume is all up to date and talking about my strong points. Just coming in, relaxed and confident. It’s nothing more than a mere conversation and if you go in with a friendly smile and a good attitude, then good things happen,” senior mechanical engineering major Brent Cousino said.

It is a bit of a nerve-racking experience but many of them know just how invaluable this experience is.

“I think they help tremendously. I never would have even considered half of these companies. I hadn’t heard of half of these companies before today and now three of them that I’ve never even talked to or even considered working for, I have interviews with and I might work there in the future. And to me, it blows my mind,” senior computer engineering major Tanner Howell said.

At the end of the day, many of these students walked in with the hope of speaking to someone important and walked out with handful of great opportunities.

And it’s all thanks to Michigan Tech and its reputation as a great place to hire employees.

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Student Perspective: Career Fair

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Travis White, former Michigan Tech student, reading over the resume of a potential new hire!

Campus was buzzing last week with over 170 companies seeking employees and interns.  Hear what a few students had to say and view the photos on facebook!

Jacquie Cowling

President of the American Marketing Association

“It was neat to see at the student organization fair the roles of the potential employers and students roles reversed. They were coming to us and introducing themselves to see what are organizations did on campus. It was really cool to see that different type of interaction in preparation for the career fair the next day.”

Ben Christensen

CCI Team/Ops Squad, ITOxygen Enterprise and Vice President, Association of Information Technology Professionals

“The Student Org Information Fair was extremely helpful to both organizations that I am involved in. AITP was able to talk about the different guest speakers we have each week and the other resources we provide to our members that gives them an extra edge in the Information Technology field.

ITOxygen was able to do the same, and also make some important connections for itself for business in the future.

When we asked members about their experience during the career fair, they said that they had multiple recruiters make a comment about the organization that never had mentioned it when they saw it before.”

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Networking Equals Career Fair Success for 2011 Woman of Promise

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Caitlin Pionke networks to receive job offer at DOW Chemical in Midland, Mich.

Caitlin Pionke jokingly refers to herself as a “business management major who got a job in the IT department at a chemical company.”

Pionke was named the 2011 Woman of Promise for Michigan Tech’s School of Business and Economics and has taken full advantage of the honor.  She is a senior in Management and an active student across campus belonging to Beta Gamma Sigma International Honor Society and the International Business Ventures Enterprise among other commitments.  For her, being selected as the Woman of Promise by the School of Business and Economics, opened up possibilities for networking with the Presidential Council of Alumnae (PCA) and landed her a job at DOW Chemical.

Immediately upon receiving the award this spring, Pionke began attending PCA events and developing relationships. The time she spent networking allowed her to identify helpful people who would best assist her in finding employment. Almost immediately Caitlin noticed how important networking was to her job search. She made contacts with DOW Chemical prior to the Michigan Tech Fall Career Fair and was then able to secure follow up interviews—both on campus and on site in Midland.

When thinking about her job hunt, Pionke recalls, “It was a great feeling walking up to the DOW Chemical booth at the Career Fair and having the recruiter already know me. Not only did they know my name but they had also already reviewed my resume which had been sent directly to them by my contacts in the company.”

Networking undoubtedly played a large role in her success at the Career Fair.  Pionke noted that for her it wasn’t just the day of the Career Fair that was important, but rather Career Fair month.  Prior to the event she sent out resumes to targeted companies and followed up with thank-yous after the fair.  Even though DOW Chemical did not list that they were looking for Business Management majors, Pionke’s networking had allowed her to stand apart from the crowd and prove herself worthy of an interview.

Pionke will begin her new job at DOW Chemical in Midland, MI as an Information Systems Analyst on June 18th.  Our School is happy to report that she is living up to her name as the 2011 Woman of Promise.

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