So many employers want to recruit Vanderbilt engineering majors, some are willing to pack into the Student Life Center’s hallways for the opportunity.
The renamed Engineering and Technology Career Fair will feature 71 companies – up from 62 last fall — and about 700 student visitors. It’s set for 3-6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 28.
Several of the recruiters are alumni, some of whom found their own jobs through the fair. Alums said they’re eager to return to campus and offer the same great opportunities to others, confident that they’re speaking with some of the nation’s most qualified candidates.
“We’re looking for a combination between impressive technical skills combined with interpersonal skills. That can be harder to find at other schools,” said Brian Akselrad (BE’12), director of operations at QGenda in Atlanta. “Vanderbilt engineers tend to be much more well-rounded, professional and mature in the way they conduct business. We’ve had incredible success, even as a small company, making perfect matches.”
Akselrad said returning to Vanderbilt to recruit is like a mini reunion, because so many other alumni are doing the same thing. “We make time to visit our favorite spots and eat hot chicken.”
Career fairs are produced in conjunction with the university’s Career Center. The center’s Evans Family Executive Director, nationally recognized career expert and author Katharine S. Brooks, took the newly endowed position in June. She is expanding the university’s employer network and student and alumni access to that.
Brooks said there will be two new career coaches, Bill Smith and Nina Collins, working with engineering students to shape career paths, and students can meet them at the career fair.
“Our Vanderbilt engineering students are unique in that they have also enjoyed the benefit of liberal arts courses and truly exemplify what is so desired in technical career fields these days: the T-shaped professionals, meaning strong technical skills combined with strong personal and management skills,” Brooks said.
Having so many companies represented this year will be exciting for students, said Cynthia Paschal, associate dean of the School of Engineering. “Our challenge will be to make sure they visit with the employers stationed both inside and outside the main exhibit space.”
All career days are open to all majors, and many engineering students also attended the recent Business & Consulting Career Day, which attracted 54 employers and 758 students.
Engineering and Technology Career Fair 2016
Accenture, Akuna Capital LLC, Altec Inc., AMERICAN Cast Iron Pipe Company, Applied Technical Services, AT&T, Availity, BNY Mellon, Brasfield & Gorrie, LLC, Camgian Microsystems Corporation, Capgemini, Capital One, Change Healthcare, Chevron, CiBO Technologies, Cigna, Clark Construction Group, LLC, Computer Technology Solutions, Inc. (CTS), ControlTouch Systems Inc., Covance, Crowe Horwath LLP, DayNine Consulting, DCS Corporation, Deloitte, Deloitte Advisory, DENSO Manufacturing, Digital Reasoning, Drake Software, Epic, eviCore healthcare, ExxonMobil, Facebook, Fast Enterprises LLC, FBI, Google, Halma plc, HCA Healthcare, InfoWorks, J.B. Hunt Transport Inc., Johnson Controls International PLC, Manhattan Associates, Marine Officer Programs, MAXIMUS, Messer Construction Co., Metova Inc., Microsoft Corporation, MicroStrategy, National Instruments, Nissan North America, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, OHM Advisors, OSIsoft Inc., PharmaSys Inc., Procter & Gamble, QGenda, Quality Manufacturing Systems Inc., Red Clay Consulting, Skanska USA Incorporate, Skuid, Smith Seckman Reid Inc., Stantec, Strand Associates Inc., The Home Depot, The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, Turner Construction, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, UnitedHealth Group, Urban Science, U.S. Navy, Venture for America, Weatherford
Contact
Heidi Hall, 615-322-6614
Heidi.Hall@Vanderbilt.edu
On Twitter @VUEngineering