Career Fair Short Stories

Once again on Purdue Campus, career fair season has come around! Our largest and most well-known career fair is of course the Industrial Roundtable. Organized by the Purdue Engineering Student Council (PESC), Industrial Roundtable is a multi-day career fair bringing in over 400 companies and thousands of students to chat, network and identify the best internship or full-time offer for both parties. Around the same time, multiple other career fairs are also occurring for specific disciplines like Boilermaker Circuit for the electrical and computer engineers, Sigma for the industrial engineers, the Aerospace Career Expo and many more! Overall, this is an amazing time for Purdue students of all years and disciplines as campus is filled with endless career opportunities. Here are a few short stories about the experiences of Purdue Women Engineers at those career fairs:

Aikya on her way to Industrial Roundtable 2021!
"As soon as I got back to campus for my sophomore year, I began preparing for the Industrial Roundtable. I got my resume critiqued by various people, recited my elevator pitch until I had it memorized and researched each company that I was interested in. When the fair finally came around, I felt like I had done everything I could do to put my best foot forwards but was still incredibly nervous. I started off a bit stiff, but I soon realized that these recruiters were genuinely just here to get to know us and find the best opportunity for us. I relaxed a bit as I saw recruiters intently listening to and asking questions about my FYE projects or extracurricular experiences. I even received a few interviews which gave me further insight into the recruiting process and helped me hone my interview skills. Eventually, I did not receive any offers from the companies I interviewed with as they weren't the right fit for me. However, I ventured confidently into talking to companies outside of Purdue career fairs and received an internship offer at a company which turned out to be the best place for me!" - Aikya Chirra BME'23 about her experience at Industrial Roundtable in 2020

"As a sophomore, I really enjoyed my experience with Industrial Roundtable. I found it so easy to make appointments with large companies that otherwise would have been difficult to speak with. I was tenacious and ambitious with the companies that I chose to connect with, and it ended up working out really well for me! I prepared to the best of my abilities and showed up with confidence. After the fair, I was offered an internship with General Electric and I could not be more excited!" - Olivia Murchie, IE'24 about her experience at Industrial Roundtable 2021

"Coming in to my first semester in Computer Engineering as a sophomore during the height of COVID, I was quite overwhelmed. I wanted to keep up with all of my academics and extracurriculars while also making sure that I was working on my career. Luckily, Purdue and my department were incredibly supportive and always keeping me informed about the opportunities available on campus to professionally develop and meet recruiters. When I missed the deadline to sign up to speak with recruiters at the ECE career fair, Boilermaker Circuit, I feared that I missed a great opportunity. However, I decided to take a chance and reach out to a recruiters who's contact information was available. In the next few days, I received a call from a recruiter at Kroger who was very excited about my resume. Before I knew it, I was interviewing with the company and received a part-time offer as a Web Development Intern for that semester. I am so thankful for Purdue for making these connections so accessible!" - Tanya Singh CompE'23 about her experience at Boilermaker Circuit in 2020

"As a part of WIEP's Mentors & Mentees program, I was informed about the importance of attending IR as a freshman and given preparation assistance with my elevator pitch and resume. After speaking with some smaller companies with much shorter lines, I found myself about 20 people deep in line for a large global civil engineering company. Hearing many of the conversations of those before me, I learned that at the end of every talk the recruiters asked if the students had applied online yet. Of the 20 standing before me, only 2 of them had done so and they were offered to schedule a time for an interview on the spot. While I wasn't offered an interview that year, the following year, I applied my experiences and new knowledge which resulted in an interview and offer from that company along with several others. I am extremely grateful that I was highly encouraged to attend IR as a freshman, as I grew immensely through my experiences and now have the opportunity to pay it forward and share them as a mentor in the WIEP M&M program." - JT Sarisky CE'22 about her experience at Industrial Roundtable in 2018 and 2019. 

Aikya Chirra, BME'23

WE Link Leadership Team


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