In October 2013 I attended the Engineering & Technical Career and Internship Connection (ETCIC) in New York City. Attending this career fair was a very exciting opportunity for me because it was my first one since starting the TEAM master’s program, and there were several excellent companies at the fair. Furthermore, New York City is an hour away from home, and going to this career fair meant a weekend of mom’s cooking!
The ETCIC is unlike any other career fair that I have been to; students can apply with firms for interviews during the fair. Because of this, I had spent the weeks leading up to the application deadline working on my résumé and any cover letters that my applications needed. The work paid off; I was accepted for interviews at two of the three firms I applied to. The ETCIC was broken up into two blocks: a traditional career fair in the morning, where students and employers could freely interact, and the pre-scheduled interviews in the afternoon.
I would end up having an incredibly busy and exhilarating day. At the first booth I went to, I introduced myself, handed the recruiter a copy of my résumé, and was asked to pull up a chair so that we could talk. When I had come back with a chair, I was told that they wanted me to come back in about six weeks for a full day of interviews and to meet the principal engineers at the firm! I could not think of a better way to start my day off. As the career fair portion of the event continued, I scheduled two other interviews for the afternoon session, in addition to the interview I had already arranged. I went into the day with two scheduled interviews for the afternoon, and by 11:00 a.m., I had four! I left the event very satisfied and extremely tired!
All of the employers that I spoke with were very impressed with the TEAM program. The small consulting firm I interviewed with hired a TEAM student from last year and loves the range of skills that he has brought to the firm. The larger firms all liked that I already had a bachelor’s degree and had found something I was passionate about and was working to increase my expertise in that field. I was very encouraged by this, and I had not previously thought of it that way. By simply enrolling in the TEAM program, I was telling employers that I was passionate about what I was learning, and they all believe that the passion and dedication needed to get a master’s would translate into a valuable and hardworking employee.
Overall, the ETCIC was an absolutely fantastic experience for me and I truly believe that it would not have been nearly as great had I not been in the TEAM program. The program gave me access to excellent career resources to work on my résumé and cover letters, and it made me stand out due to the range of new skills that I am learning.
– Alex Magill ’14 (MS)
