October 22, 2004 —
Sixty-two engineering companies gathered in the Viterbi School E-Quad Oct. 21
to meet undergraduate students and discuss employment opportunities during the
Fall 2004 Engineering Career Fair.
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Students were advised to dress up and come armed with resumes for engineering
companies attending the fall career fair. |
Turnout at the biannual fair was “awesome,” said Chris Noll, a member of Engineering
Career Services in the Viterbi School Student Affairs Office. “Company participation
was higher than it’s been in recent years, up by about 20 more companies this
time,” she said, “and students turned out in droves.”
“These students are great,” said Zena Harris, a representative of the Parson’s
Corp. Human Resources Office. “They’ve got great skills and they’re eager to
dive in to some of these projects.”
Jeffrey Beaupre, a senior in computer engineering/computer science, is but one
of many examples. A co-op student at Boeing Co., he is working as a technical
lead on a maritime aircraft systems design project while he finishes his undergraduate
degree.
“I’m learning a lot about management skills in the job,” he said. “I like the
work environment too.”
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Zena Harris, left, of Parson's Corp.,chats
with Jeffry Beaupre, a CE/CS senior. |
USC’s Engineering Career Fair provides businesses with an opportunity to increase
their visibility among the School’s top engineering students. Many of these companies
will return to campus later in the year to conduct formal interviews and information
sessions, but students are advised to dress in business-casual attire for the
fall event and have a one- or two-minute presentation to give potential employers,
in addition to their resumes.
Approximately 2,000 students attended the all-day event and chatted with companies
such as Boeing, Parson’s Corp., Raytheon, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Northrop
Grumman, Walt Disney Imagineering, Los Angeles County Department of Public Works
and many other companies.
James Simmons, a systems engineer at Northrop Grumman and a Viterbi School graduate
student in systems architecture and engineering, said many of the students were
asking about summer internships, “but some of these students may find other ways
of getting a foot in the door.” For instance, Simmons found his own job at Northrop
Grumman by getting the company to sponsor his senior thesis project.
Elisa Pitts, a sophomore in industrial systems engineering, hopes to land a job
at the aerospace giant’s El Segundo headquarters because her mother and older
sister have worked there.
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Elisa Pitts, left, makes a good impression on Northrop Grumman representative
Dave Blancett. |
“We’ve got about seven or eight USC kids working there right now,” said Dawn
Carter, manager of Sector College Relations at Northrop Grumman. “And we’ve hired
about 40 USC engineering graduates in the past two years.”
Students are encouraged to attend USC’s spring Engineering Career Fair to connect
with potential employers who will be recruiting for summer positions. Other career
information and services are available in the Career Planning and Placement Center
or by visiting the Career Services Center at http://viterbi.usc.edu/students/.
--Diane Ainsworth
