 "Photo: Karl Anderson")
Approximately 200 engineering firms convened for the Texas Tech College of Engineering 2008 fall semester job fair Tuesday at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center.
The companies assembled in the Civic Center's Exhibit Hall and hallways hoping to recruit Tech students for internships, co-ops, part-time and full-time jobs.
Shelli Crockett, director of the Engineering Opportunities Center, said 1,300 students were expected to visit the job fair during the day, but as of 2:45 p.m., it was evident that more students than expected already had attended the event.
"I know we're over 1,300," she said. "We're out of nametags for the students already. I believe that between 1,500 and 1,800 students will have attended by the end of the day."
The job fair consisted of nationally-known companies such as ExxonMobile, Citgo, Lockheed-Martin and Halliburton as well as regional engineering firms from across Texas and several firms from New Mexico, Louisiana and Oklahoma, she said.
Many Tech Engineering alumni were at the Civic Center to recruit students to their respective firms, Crockett said.
Tech alumni wore a red ribbon with the Double T emblem. Crockett said this was done so recruiters could show off their school pride and to make students feel more comfortable approaching the recruiters. Some of the recruiting engineers have only been out of college for a year.
Matthew Fisher, an employee of FM Global, graduated with a degree from Tech in constructional engineering in 2006. He is working in FM Global's Plano division and is part of the company's team visiting Lubbock to recruit Tech students.
"I had a lot of success at Tech," he said. "FM Global has recruited a lot of Tech students in the past and they have all been very successful in the real world."
Some companies, like Richardson-based Childress Engineering Services, are familiar with the College of Engineering's reputation and the caliber of the college's students, said Dustin Payne, an engineer with the company.
"Our boss graduated from Texas Tech," he said. "I graduated from Texas Tech in 2006 and the majority of our engineering staff graduated from Texas Tech, so we know Tech is the best way to go when we recruit. Going here, I know first hand that Tech has a very good engineering school with well qualified students."
Engineering students from all classifications visited the job fair. Most of the underclassmen visited to make contacts for internships.
"I'm here to see what the job fair is really like," said Mark Spaeth, a freshman chemical engineering major from Dallas. "I just want to get my name out there and, hopefully, I can make a good impression on a company here and work towards getting an internship."
Many older students visited the job fair seeking jobs rather than internships.
"There are a lot of great companies out here today, so it's worth it for every minute you can visit here," said Andrew Franko, a senior civil engineering major from Fort Worth. "I try to talk to the guys here and let them know a little about myself and then move on to another company I'm interested in."
The organizers of the job fair color coordinated the nametags of students by major and coordinated companies' signs by their field of work to make it easier for students to find positions that correlated to their major and so companies could actively seek out students walking the floor of the Civic Center.
"The dots really do help," Franko said. "I'm looking for orange dots. I can notice immediately what companies might be interested in me."
Crockett said approximately 15 percent of the companies at the fair will be interviewing potential internship, co-op and job candidates today, and most of the other companies that attended will interview their candidates in the upcoming weeks.
Crockett said most of the job fair's feedback from companies and students has been positive.
"Corporations are excited to be hiring Tech students," she said. "They believe our students are well rounded and hard working. Students are excited about the opportunities they have to meet with so many experts in their fields and possibly get an internship or job."
Crockett said the next College of Engineering job fair will be in February.
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