Career fair opens doors for Bagley students
October 15, 2015
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State’s biannual career fair proved to be an immense success with more than 190 companies present over the two-day event.
Held in Humphrey Coliseum, the career fair provided excellent opportunities for Bagley College of Engineering students to meet and network with company representatives about possible internships, cooperative educations positions and fulltime employment after graduation.
Chemical engineering major Parla Hoelter said she attended for several reasons.
“You definitely get to meet with a lot of companies that you have never heard of,” Hoelter said. “I thought I knew a lot of companies that were interested in engineers, but every year I learn at least 10 different new ones.”
Since the process can be a bit overwhelming, the senior from Collierville, Tennessee, said she urges friends to prepare themselves with a quick pep talk before attending.
“Tell yourself that you are great and that everyone wants to hire you,” Hoelter said.
Hoelter also stressed the importance of dressing professionally and bringing a supply of resumes, both of which she considers essential steps.
Among company representatives attending was Ryan Marchetta, a product-engineering manager at Baxter Healthcare, who said he believes MSU’s engineering students stand out from the crowd.
“They are really smart, and most of them are really passionate about the degree that they are pursuing,” Marchetta said. “They just have a lot of passion and a lot of the work that they do lends itself to the types of operations that we do over at Baxter.”
When asked what advice he would give to students, Marchetta encouraged students to focus on both academic and team engineering activities.
“Get as much as you can out of your classwork and take advantage of any opportunities to do career related work,” Marchetta said. “MSU has several robotics teams and automotive teams. Any sort of those activities are awesome for students because it shows exposure to team based activities, project management, focus on engineering tasks and a broad based exposure.”
Dow Chemical’s global improvement leader, Richard Rolke, was also at the career fair in search of mechanical, chemical and electrical engineering students.
“We are not only looking for smart people, we are also looking for people who have diversity in what they want to do,” Rolke said. “Doing things to help the local community is really important; Habitat for Humanity, United Way, any number of those. We look for things like band, boy scouts, girl scouts and military experience because it shows a very diverse set of skills.”
Rolke also praised the career fair for the many benefits they provide students.
“Students who come to the career fair get a good perspective on what’s in store for them in their future careers. It can give you an idea of what you want to prepare for in co-ops, internships or full-time jobs later,” Rolke said.
Ryan Colvin, a senior coordinator at the Career Center, said research has demonstrated how individuals visiting the Career Center prior to a fair tend to be hired more quickly than those who do not. Because of this, Colvin constantly urges students to come by the departmental offices in 300 Montgomery Hall and meet their personal liaison.
“Every student has a liaison who has a primary mission to help prepare students for both career-fair participations and their future careers,” Colvin said.
For more information on the Career Center and upcoming events, visit www.career.msstate.edu.
To learn more about the Bagley College of Engineering, visit www.bagley.msstate.edu.
By Logan Treadaway