Engineering students had the opportunity to learn about some facets of the field not taught in the textbooks.
On Thursday, the College of Engineering hosted a career panel for University students with five engineers who oversee hiring of engineers, inviting them to talk about their careers.
The panel, the first put on by the college, focused on securing internships, building relationships and communicating effectively, rather than physics and math.
“Students can also gain knowledge regarding what the panelists have found to be key elements in being successful in industry, in particular, communication skills,” said Jeff Dunaway, mechanical engineering senior and member of the engineering council.
The panel addressed communication because of the need for engineers to interact in the workplace with people of various professions.
“Another important point made was the development of interpersonal skills to work better in a team environment that is so critical to the way most businesses conduct their engineering projects,” said Warren Hull, College of Engineering coordinator.
Panelist David Carlson, who works for Raytheon Missile Systems, stressed the importance of both oral communication and written communication.
“Just because we’re engineers doesn’t mean we have to write badly,” Carlson said.
Carlson said the panel spoke to some lower-level undergraduate engineering classes during the day about the importance of effective writing.
Hull, who organized the panel, said students learned that many young engineers move around in the departments of a company for several years before finding their niche.
Hull said the panel was designed to help students find jobs more easily after earning their degree.
“[The panel offers] better insights into what they can do now to enhance their chances of success in an engineering career after graduation,” Hull said. “Also, some feel for what they should expect in their first job, and how to sell themselves to land that job.”
Dunaway said the panel prepares students for meeting engineering companies.
“The panel gives current engineering students insight into what recruiters are looking for when they are hiring for both full-time entry-level positions as well as co-op and intern positions,” Dunaway said.
Hull said the College of Engineering hopes to host a career panel every semester, and he said the college will continually try to improve the event.
“Since this was the first, we’ll try to improve formats by using student feedback from this one,” Hull said.
About 30 students attended the forum.
“We had hoped for about 50, but feel that we had a good turnout for the first time,” Hull said. “I think we’ll try to get the word out better next time.”
 
Contact Justin Fritscher at [email protected]