For Ivan Fernandez, securing an internship was no quick fix. Fernandez, junior in aerospace engineering, has spent the past three years constructing a path to success. This last fall, all of his hard work paid off, landing an internship at Spirit AeroSystems for the upcoming summer.

“I’ve gone to just about every career fair since I was a freshman,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez said his experience with going to career fairs started off somewhat rough.

“Freshman year at the fair was brutal and awkward,” Fernandez said. “I was not prepared and didn’t do any research on the companies. I was way in over my head.”

As intimidating as College of Engineering career fairs may appear to freshmen, who are required to attend, Fernandez said he appreciated that it allowed him to know what he was getting into. He said he quickly learned from his experience.

Now a near pro, Fernandez credits networking as part of his success.

“Networking is very vital,” he said. “It’s important, especially for engineering students, because the more people you know, the more access you have for opportunity.”

Fernandez benefited from networking by being hired on for his paid internship.

“I actually recognized the company representative from a previous career fair and he remembered me,” he said. “That helped a lot.”

Additionally, Fernandez received a recommendation from an ISU graduate working at the company.

Roger Bentley, manager of Student and Alumni Professional Development at Engineering Career Services, said that many alumni are able to pass names around their companies. He encourages students to get involved in clubs or group design classes to build relationships with peers at Iowa State for this very reason.

“I know that more and more employers are using their internal alums to help network back into the school they’re from,” Bentley said.

Fernandez agreed. “A lot of upperclassman will remember undergrads and start networking within their company to get you hired,” he said.

Director of Engineering Career Services Brian Larson said that networking is important for at least three key reasons.

“First, most jobs require networking skills to get the work done,” he said.

Larson added, “Employers are looking for people that are good at building professional relationships.”

Larson said the second reason is that networking helps connect those looking for work to employers looking for people to hire. The final reason is that networking helps employers by removing “a bit of the unknown about a prospective employee.”

“Networking becomes an art form over time,” Bentley said.

This “very vital” skill can be the difference between being successful or unsuccessful in today’s economy.

“In a down economy, job seekers need to work harder to get noticed,” Larson said. “Networking becomes that much more important.”

Larson said networking is a skill all students need to know how to do.

With more than 270 organizations attending the spring engineering career fair, students will have ample opportunity to practice their networking skills.

“Go to as many as it takes to land the internship,” Fernandez said. “[They’re] actually worth it.”