Students flock to College of Engineering Job Fair
More than 450 students crammed the halls of the College of Engineering October 13 with their resumes in hand, eager to talk to engineering company recruiters and get a foot in the door of industry.
Co-hosted by the college and WSU Career Services, the 2005 Job Fair attracted representatives from 29 companies seeking qualified individuals to fill full-time positions, COOP placements and internships. The companies included private companies, and federal and state government agencies. Most students lined up at the tables represented by Detroit Diesel, Bose, Yazaki and EDS where lines were 10 students deep.
"I came for GM, the CIA and Ford," said electrical and computer engineering senior Bradley Bezzina. "These are companies I would like to work for."
There are fewer job opportunities in the region because of the sluggish economy, but companies still come here to offer jobs, said Gerald Thompkins, associate dean of students, College of Engineering.
The recruiters are looking for fresh graduates with leadership abilities, communication skills, languages and high grade point averages. They also said that candidates must be flexible and ready for travel relocation.
About 300 students spoke with EDS recruiters during the daylong Job Fair, said John Coschino, senior recruiter at EDS, which needs computer engineering graduates for positions in software applications, development, and programming.
Coschino said he was impressed with the quality of the Wayne State engineering students. "Wayne State engineering students are well prepared, bright and they know what they want. You can see they have done their homework."
Recruiters spent from five to ten minutes with each candidate who left his or her resume for further review by human resource offices. During informal talks they asked simple questions such as, "Why are you interested in our company? What would you like to work at?"
The Engineering Job Fair first took place in 1996 when more than 60 companies were represented, said Thompkins. It was created to increase the opportunities for engineering students who tended to just interview with the Big Three automakers - GM, Chrysler and Ford, he added.