The annual STEM Career Fair opened opportunities for students to meet with reputable employers looking to hire and educate Loyola University Maryland students of all years. A discussion was held about internships and employment.
The STEM Career Fair took place on October 6 over a virtual call to accomplish an overall goal of opening doors of opportunity for students interested in STEM related fields, such as engineering, math, statistics, information systems, computer science, data science, life science and more.
“Career Fairs serve all years in that they are a great place for students just exploring to learn about companies. Older students can actively seek out internships and full-time jobs,” said Loyola University Maryland’s Events and Marketing Specialist, Penelope Flury.
Due to the pandemic, all of Loyola’s fairs have been virtual since the spring of 2020. The experience of hosting this event online has been different, according to Flury, but the platform used has proven to be helpful, nonetheless. Flury mentioned that with the help of the virtual platform known as Handshake, students were able to pre schedule group sessions and quick one-on-one interviews with employers. Despite the change of environment compared to the usual fair setting held in McGuire Hall, the virtual STEM Career Fair had some advantages.
“The advantage to the virtual fairs is that students can manage their schedules ahead of time instead of committing to the entire fair time during an in-person event. In addition, Handshake gives students the ability to see exactly who they met with, and it provides an easy mechanism for students to follow up with employers. ”
Over 130 students and 24 employers attended this career fair. A few companies that were present include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Booz Allen Hamilton, and BKM (Burdette, Koehler, Murphy & Associates, Inc.). “I would encourage all students to attend our career fairs,” said Flury.
Flury suggests that students check out Loyola’s career linktree where they can find the school’s social media channels, as well as resources to stay up to date about other fairs and resources to reach out to potential employers.
She said, “The participating employers have both internship and full-time opportunities available. [The fair] works for students to begin to grow their network.”
Flury also urges Loyola students seeking opportunities during and after their time at Loyola University Maryland to speak with their professors about specific opportunities they would be interested in exploring.
“It’s hard not to know about our Career Fairs! We advertise our events on Handshake, campus-wide digital signage, through campus partners, professors and department chairs, and on our social media,” said Flury.
Events that connect students to employers provide unique opportunities to network and grow toward future careers, something which is invaluable upon entering the workforce.
Featured Image courtesy of Chris Montgomery via Unsplash
