The largest student run career fair in the nation went off without a hitch Tuesday and Wednesday as 8,500 students and 430 engineering firms converged on Reed Arena to secure internships and jobs across the industry.
The Student Engineers’ Council, SEC, has hosted Texas A&Ms’ engineering career fair every semester since 1991. This year’s fair broke attendance expectations by more than 1,000 students and came together as a result of months of preparation.
“We have about 100 active members in the SEC,” said Melinda McClure, SEC president and chemical engineering senior. “That’s 10,000 people managed by 100 students.”
About 8,500 students of the 12,328 students enrolled in the engineering college attended.
“Our directors and co-chairs did a fantastic job,” said Ervin Polasek, mechanical engineering senior and SEC vice president of development. “They put in a lot of hours and made it a quality event.”
Many students said they were impressed by the fair and made headway toward their career goals.
“It was a fantastic opportunity to get our name out there to future employers,” said Sean O’Beirne, aerospace engineering junior.
A golf tournament and welcome dinner preceded the fair and gave students the opportunity to connect with recruiters on a more social level. The golf tournament hosted 32 students and 16 companies while the welcome dinner hosted 325 students. These events filled up within four hours of registration opening.
Although the fair set a new attendance record, the SEC expects attendance to continue growing because of factors such as the engineering 25 by 25 initiative, which aims for 25,000 engineering students by 2025.
“We are excited to face the new challenges of next year and improve and make it better and better,” McClure said.“[We’re excited to] make it larger and larger and just keep beating our own record.”
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