Students, alumni and employers filled the Student Union Building ballroom Monday for the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Job and Internship Fair.
From 3 to 7 p.m., the University of Idaho Career Center-sponsored fair gave students an opportunity to share resumes and meet with recruiters from various employers.
“The career fair is extremely important,” said Jessica Berwick, UI manager for employer relations and communications. “It provides a unique opportunity to be face-to-face with a recruiter, (to work on) professional skills, (share) resumes, (work on) presentation, to practice handshakes, and to talk to adults.”
Berwick spear-headed the fall 2011 fair with the help of Noell Kinyon, the employer relations specialist for the Career Center.
Berwick said the employer relations team invited thousands of companies to participate. The companies then self-selected and registered for the event. Berwick said a majority of the this year’s 50 participants are UI alumni, but a lot of new companies were involved this year.
These participants fund the fairs that occur each semester. Registration fees run from $150 to $750 depending on registration date and organization type, such as non-profit versus for-profit companies. Berwick said these fees help pay for advertising, printing, event catering and even tablecloth rentals for the event.
Eric Stubbs is a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) product manager for Micron and deals with product research and development. Stubbs graduated from UI in 1993 with a degree in electrical engineering and gave advice to students seeking jobs after graduation Monday.
“Know what you want to do when you graduate,” Stubbs said. “Tailor your classes to your interests. Research the industry and know what companies you’re talking to.”
Kevin Lichy, a UI graduate and electrical engineer for Georgia-Pacific, gave advice to job seekers too.
“Internships are where they’re at,” Lichy said. “It’s the No. 1 thing we look for.”
Lichy said with any job, people should not expect to hit the ground running.
“I can’t stress interpersonal skills enough — communication skills are huge,” Lichy said.
The Career Center is also putting on a Corporate Job, Internship and Grad School Fair from 1 to 5 p.m. Oct. 5. In preparation, Berwick said there is a practice room available from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. the same day in the SUB Pend Oreille room where the Career Center will offer a last minute resume review, an introduction assistant and in-depth research of participating companies.
“(The career fair) has a lot of opportunities,” said Chris Rhyne, a mechanical engineering major.
Rhyne talked to Boeing and said he’s interested in aeronautical engineering specifically. He said he attended the fair in hopes of getting an internship.
“It’s not best for one person in particular, but the fair has a wide variety,” Rhyne said.