Career fairs are one of many avenues for students to engage with companies and learn about different industries, career routes, and internship opportunities; however, not all vocations are equally represented.
Villanova University staff identified the need for a discipline-specific recruitment event for civil engineering students to develop deeper interactions between learners and industry partners, so they organized an engineering meetup.
The career center collaborated with a student organization to provide professional development education to participants while also assisting companies in finding the talent they require more efficiently.
What’s the need: When organizing typical career fairs, staff saw a disproportionate interest from firms looking for civil engineers compared to the amount of students attending the fair who wanted to be civil engineers.
“We also noticed that more students were being converted from internships into full-time post-graduate positions prior to the fairs—thereby taking seniors out of the market and reducing our supply of civil engineers seeking full-time employment at the fairs,” explains Maggie Songer, executive director of Villanova’s career center.
Furthermore, the timing for recruiting and internship hiring was pushing forward, with more organizations shifting the process from the spring semester to early fall.
Students from other majors were underserved at the career fair due to the large amount of civil engineering businesses looking for a specific type of student.
To further interact with business partners and enhance equal networking and recruitment possibilities for students, officials decided to host a major-specific career fair for engineering students.
How it works: In addition to the traditional autumn and spring semester employment fairs, Villanova also hosts a unique event for civil engineering students.
The first meetup was held in February in partnership with the student organization of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), with 18 employers from various industries and students from all classes in attendance.
“This focused event provided a more intimate setting for meaningful interactions between students and employers,” Songer said.
The event included open networking, one-on-one résumé evaluations, and career-guidance meetings between employers and students. These drew a broader spectrum of students, including those who had previously accepted internship and full-time job offers. Students might also get a headshot taken or browse the career closet for professional attire.
Some of the event’s revenues, collected from employers for participation, were contributed to the ASCE chapter’s professional development fund, which will be used to pay for conference attendance this year.
The impact: The event reached its goal of engaging a larger number of students interested in civil engineering, but it also encouraged deeper engagement as participants learned about career options. Employers praised the event for meeting their expectations, with 100% responding positively in a follow-up poll.
Partnering with a student organization also provided chapter members with opportunities for leadership and professional growth, with the executive board making opening and closing speeches and introducing themselves to participating employers, according to Songer.
A post-event survey revealed that the average survey responder gave the event a nine out of ten (one being poor and ten being extraordinary).
DIY: For a higher education practitioner considering creating a similar program, Songer offers six pieces of advice:
- Identify demand. Looking at institutional data, practitioners can analyze trends in employer interest and student career aspirations to see where there is the greatest need for targeted programming, particularly where there is a discrepancy between employers and students.
- Collaborate with student orgs. Working alongside a student group can help staff leverage the group’s network and student membership to promote the event, but most importantly, it can help develop student leaders. Student-led events and activities resonate better with peers and can foster a sense of community within a discipline and give students hands-on work experience that will benefit their careers later.
- Emphasize relationship building. In addition to traditional career fairs, programming that prioritizes relationships between students and employers has more meaningful outcomes and can produce mentorship or longer-term connections and advancement. Focused events are better at achieving this goal because they are tailored toward career interests and career pathways.
- Partner internally. Other groups within the university, such as faculty and administration, can serve as resources for career-focused events. At Villanova, the dean of the college of engineering was the first to identify that the U.S. infrastructure bill was creating a heightened need for engineers. Faculty can also help encourage students to attend and participate in events.
- Leverage alumni. “When alumni attend recruiting events, they can more easily relate to current students and spark conversations via shared experiences, allowing for students to feel more comfortable and confident while networking,” Songer says. Staff should conduct outreach to alumni to encourage their participation.
- Solicit feedback and iterate. In trialing something new, staff should continuously solicit feedback from all stakeholders, including students and employers, to assess the program’s effectiveness and identify areas of improvement. This ensures the program is responsive to the current and evolving needs of all parties.
