Engineering students attended the spring 2020 Engineering Career Fair on Tuesday to network for an opportunity to secure an internship, co-op or potential full-time job.

Each company had a booth set up with information and a representative for students to talk to and some booths had free knick knacks available for students.

The students in attendance were looking for equal opportunities for employment in their field of study.

Prashant Polampally, graduate student in industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, said this was his last career fair. He said it is very important to look for details on the company someone is looking at to apply.

“You get a lot of information through CyHire website,” Polampally said. “So I would say that really helps in getting more information about the company and the position before you go to the booth.”

Jade Henderson, sophomore in mechanical engineering, said she was very nervous for her first time at career fair. This being her second career fair, she said she is hoping for an internship with John Deere, and to eventually move out of Iowa.

“This year I am feeling more confident going into [the career fair],” Henderson said. “I am actually here looking for an internship this summer, so I’m hoping for something good.”

Advice Henderson offers is directed towards newcomers to the career fair.

“Don’t be nervous,” Henderson said. “Don’t leave after one awkward experience, because if you don’t have success with one of the companies it’s probably just not for you and you should probably go to a different company. It could be less awkward depending on the relationship you have with [the company] or could build with them eventually.”

Justin Bright, senior in chemical engineering, has been to multiple career fairs and is looking for networking opportunities to set him apart from others.

“I normally just look at the spreadsheet that goes out and highlight the companies that are looking for chemical engineers,” Bright said. “Just whatever ones that seem interesting or that I’ve heard a lot about I’ll Google them to get the list of what they do. Don’t slack when it comes to [career fairs]. Definitely know what the companies do because it can ruin your whole flow.”

Kishor Sridhar, graduate student in information systems and business analytics, has been to four career fairs. He said he attended the career fair to search for a job in fields related to data science, data analytics and business analytics.

“One thing I’m doing different [for the career fair] is this time I’m going to the website and I see the job posting, and I write down the job ID and then I write it down on my resume,” Sridhar said. “So when I talk to [businesses], I give them my resume and also mention the job ID to them so it’s easier for them to see what position I am exactly applying to.”

The spring career fair has approximately 2,000 less students in attendance than the fall career fair, Program Coordinator for Engineering Career Services Kellie Mullaney said, but the spring career fair was still a chance for students to speak with potential employers.