The Scheman building was crowded with students dressed to impress, hallways and rooms were lined with booths set up with snacks, stress-balls and all sorts of goodies to be handed out. It was Career Fair day for the College of Engineering, and students’ prospects for internship and career opportunities were looking good.

367 employers participated in this fall’s career fair, which gave students plenty of opportunities to network with established professionals and seek out career and internship opportunities.

Some students at the career fair come in hopes of securing internships for upcoming summers and terms off of school. Often these internships can transfer over to a full-time position if they go well.

A sophomore in software engineering, Ben Podjenski explained why he was attending the Engineering Career fair.

“There are a few companies that I was specifically looking for but overall I’m looking for any companies that are looking for a software engineer or cybersecurity engineer,” said Podjesnki. “I’m looking for internships but internships in engineering tend to lead careers, a lot of places like to just hire people that they’ve already had for two years so they don’t need to train someone new.”

One senior in Chemical Engineering, Megan Sherman, even came to the career fair with a specific field in mind.

“I’m looking for an internship or a co-op, I’m trying to look more in the biofuels industry, so I’ve been talking to some of those companies,” said Sherman.

Other students came to the career fair with other goals in mind, a senior in civil engineering, Taylor Lansing, offered her goals for the summer.

“I’m looking for an internship for the summer because I won’t graduate until December 2022,” said Lansing. “I’m looking for a company that’s out of state because I wanna travel outa Iowa.”

Other students came with not only the upcoming summer term for internships in mind but also with a general understanding of their future attendance of career fairs. One junior in mechanical engineering, Dominick Tusing, explained his plans for the current and future career fairs.

“I’m mostly looking for an internship this first year, the second year when I’m a senior I’ll probably be looking for a co-op or another internship,” said Tusing. “Then the last year when I come here as a super senior, I’ll probably be looking for a full-time job, but for right now just an internship.”

Not all students at the career fair were still in the process of finding employers; one senior in industrial engineering, Jacob Ponder, attended the career fair as a member of Pella Window’s team.

“So I had a couple of internships with Pella and I did capstone office work here,” Ponder said. “Today I’ve been helping them do their interviewing process, I’ve talked to a lot of students about the internship experience.”

Ponder himself saw his success stem from a good experience at a career fair. 

“I’d say freshman year was a big year for me I got an offer from Sukup Manufacturing for an internship, that was a good way to get my foot in the door,” said Ponder. “It was a very interesting experience, a lot of linework, but it did help me get an internship at Pella corp as well as some networking with some employees I know that work there.”

 At the end of the day, many of the students who attended the career fair stand a better chance of scoring an internship or career opportunity. As employers interact with students, those who stand out are rewarded with offers and later interviews. For engineering students who missed this career fair, another is being held Tuesday, Sept. 21.