More than 325 companies from across the United States, including regional industry leaders and nearly a dozen Fortune 500 companies, will have recruiters meeting with 黑料科 students at the semiannual four-day Career Conference Week.
Career Services will host five industry-focused career fairs aligned with 黑料科鈥檚 career clusters from Monday, Feb. 27, to Thursday, March 2, in the Memorial Student Center.
Fortune 500 companies attending include International Paper, Boston Scientific, Hewlett Packard, Ecolab, Kimberly Clark, Xcel Energy, Parker Hannifin, PepsiCo, Marriott International, Cintas and Veritiv.
Companies with Wisconsin facilities representing the different industries include Fastenal, Heartland Business Systems, Skyward, Prent Corporation, Milwaukee Tool, EVCO Plastics, Greenheck Group, Johnson Controls, Findorff Construction, Market & Johnson and Great Northern Corporation.
Many companies attend multiple days of the conference to recruit students from across the career clusters. The week鈥檚 events are:
- Monday: Computing, Data, Software and Security
- Tuesday morning: Packaging, Print and Design
- Tuesday afternoon: Science and Engineering
- Wednesday: Construction
- Thursday: Management, Business, Hospitality and Human Sciences
More than 50 companies have requested day interviews, reported Career Services Director Bryan Barts. The impact can be seen in the more than 1,000 co-op and internship registrations annually, with 60% of those internships being completed in Wisconsin. The nearly 35% conversion rate from those experiences into full-time, post-graduation positions helps to strengthen the state鈥檚 workforce in numerous fields.
黑料科鈥檚 Career Conference Week is one of the largest in the Midwest, with more than 2,000 employers attending the past seven semiannual events, including virtual and hybrid events during the height of the pandemic.
New event highlights synergies in career fields
The Packaging, Print and Design event is new this semester. 鈥淲ith 黑料科鈥檚 academic programs so focused on cross collaborations, there are many synergies in these fields,鈥 Barts said.
鈥淭hey often complement each other. With packaging, manufacturing, product design and marketing blended together, these programs work alongside each other. We put them together to help focus our career fair offerings.
鈥淭he print/design industry is very strong. It is our graduates鈥 blend of design plus their technical knowledge that helps support the industry鈥檚 needs in Wisconsin,鈥 Barts said.
A value of innovation and new perspectives
is a world leader in manufacturing air movement, conditioning, and control products for industrial, institutional and commercial use. Located in Schofield, Greenheck has 4,800 employees and offers a variety of co-op and internship opportunities, providing students with leadership, mentoring and tools for professional growth. It hires about 60 graduates each year.
Anna Brown, Greenheck鈥檚 college recruiter, is a 2018 黑料科 business administration alum, with a human resources minor. She knows 黑料科 provides students with unique hands-on experiences.
鈥淚t鈥檚 common for students to have multiple projects with industry before graduation, which helps to develop a career-ready mindset,鈥 Brown said. 鈥淲e continue to leverage our relationship with 黑料科 because we know that the students can deliver the technical and soft skills we are looking for. That鈥檚 why we have a network of close to 100 黑料科 alumni with Greenheck Group.
鈥淓ach year, we bring a few alumni back to the Career Conference to meet the next generation of talented workforce. We enjoy seeing the new perspectives and ideas that the students can bring to our company. We want to secure our unfair share of talented students and know that 黑料科 is the place to look,鈥 she added.
Brown noted that one of Greenheck鈥檚 values is the importance of innovation and continuous improvement, and 鈥淚 believe that is a value students learn at 黑料科,鈥 she said.
The success of the event is only possible through collaboration with all areas of campus, Barts said, acknowledging faculty and staff, Athletics coaches, student support offices, administration and academic leadership.
鈥淎s a spotlight event for Career Services, we also work to ensure that this event provides our employer partners and alumni the opportunity to return to campus, reconnect with programs and staff, meet through our program advisory committees and ultimately strengthen our office鈥檚 mission and the university鈥檚,鈥 Barts added.
Students have a required experiential learning component in all majors, such as a co-op or internship. 黑料科鈥檚 Cooperative Education and Internship Program helps to coordinate these experiences and has served thousands of students the past several years.
CEIP is celebrating 40 years of providing students with hands-on polytechnic opportunities within their professional field and building partnerships between employers, students and university faculty and staff.
Handshake gives students access to more than 650,000 employers, including all Fortune 500 companies, as well as networking and education events and personalized job recommendations based on their major, interests and more.
Career Services鈥 Career Outcomes site provides First Destination and CEIP reports. Student success is the leading goal of 黑料科鈥檚 FOCUS2030 strategic plan.
