With Fall Quarter well underway, it is time for many Northwestern students to begin pursuing learning opportunities outside the classroom.
Every year, the Society of Women Engineers organizes Industry Day, Northwestern’s largest technical job fair. Last year, more than 670 NU undergraduate and graduate students attended to meet with recruiters in hopes of finding a full-time job, internship or co-op opportunity. This year’s event will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. today at the Hilton Garden Inn, 1818 Maple Ave.
Representatives from 67 companies will be in attendance, including Ford Motor Company, Abbott Laboratories and 3M. An additional 20 companies looking to participate in the fair were placed on a waiting list due to venue constraints, said McCormick senior Jessie Donato, president of the Society of Women Engineers.
“It’s an important time to develop careers,” said the group’s alumni relations co-chair Winnie Lo, a McCormick sophomore. “For the most part, seniors are looking into getting jobs, but for juniors, sophomores and even freshmen, it’s a great time to network with companies.”
Industry Day, or I-Day, as group members call it, marks the first round of recruiting from prospective employers and “starts off the race for the year,” Lo said.
The group’s program director, Sarah Pilewski, with the help of an 18-member executive board, is the main coordinator for I-Day. Pilewski, a McCormick senior, said she was offered an internship from Abbott Laboratories a couple weeks after getting an interview through last year’s I-Day.
“I’ll definitely use Industry Day to get my name out to companies,” Pilewski said.
Among the I-Day recruiters are several NU alumni. Chanda Davis, who attended I-Day as an NU student, will return to I-Day this time as a Procter & Gamble representative.
“When I went to SWE Industry day, I was apprehensive to put myself out there,” Davis said. “Now that I’m on the other side, there’s no need for that.”
Davis suggested that students come prepared with resumes and questions and that they use the fair as an opportunity to inquire about different career paths.
Although engineers are the target audience, companies are also looking for students from other backgrounds, such as marketing and finance, said Ellen Worsdall, adviser of the Society of Women Engineers.
“What is unique (about I-Day) is that it is NU’s largest tech fair, and it is run by a student organization,” Worsdall, who is also a McCormick assistant dean. “It shows how committed our students are to not only their own pursuits but to the opportunities for the NU community as a whole.”
With about 130 members, the group also organizes an annual Career Day for Girls to expose high school and middle school students to engineering professions.
Last March, the group raised more than $200,000 to organize the largest SWE conference in the region’s history. This year, the group will implement a mentoring program to match up NU students with women in engineering and other professions. NU is also nominated to be the organization’s national chapter of the year.
“SWE’s mission is to advance women in fields of engineering, provide support and network opportunities,” Donato said.
This year’s McCormick freshmen class is 33 percent female, compared to a 16 percent national average.
“You’re never alienated,” Donato said, talking about being a female in McCormick. “You’re just another student in an engineering class.”
Industry Day is open to the entire campus. Those interested in attending should bring a copy of their resume and their WildCARD to the event.
Reach Nathalie Tadena at [email protected]
