ASU career center supports engineering students throughout their academic, professional journeys

Thriving careers await students from Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, but the path to get there can be difficult to go alone.

Fortunately, the Fulton Schools Career Center is there to help students identify career paths and opportunities that allow them to pursue their passions — from freshman year through senior year and beyond.

After settling into their first semester at ASU, the freshmen of the Class of 2020 are getting ready to jump-start their career searches.

Every fall, Career Exploration Night for Freshmen allows new students to explore engineering and technology careers and talk with hundreds of alumni and industry professionals — from aerospace and manufacturing to construction, aviation, industrial biomedical and civil engineering, as well as environmental and resource management — about how to get the careers they want.

This year, more than 2,800 freshmen are expected to attend Career Exploration Night on Oct. 18 at the Tempe campus and on Oct. 26 at the Polytechnic campus.

Career search assistance for students doesn’t stop there. Throughout their academic journey, students can take advantage of scheduled and drop-in advising to further plan their career paths, prepare a technical résumé and application letter, develop job-search techniques and interviewing skills and learn how to negotiate salaries.

Workshops as well as online resources, presentations and webinars provide additional opportunities to develop these skills beyond one-on-one advising.

For students looking into graduate school, the Career Center can help review graduate-school applications. These services are also available to alumni navigating their own career paths and job searches.

The Career Center also connects students with experiential learning opportunities. Internships are an excellent way for students to explore different aspects of engineering and gain experience that employers look for in a job candidate. To give students the most time to take advantage of this hands-on experience, the Career Center aims to have students ready for an internship within their first four semesters.

Beyond internships, students can participate in co-ops and experiential learning, providing them with valuable experience outside the classroom while they obtain their degrees.

In the Career Center’s co-op program, students work six to seven consecutive months of full-time, degree-related employment. Co-op students enroll in a one-credit co-op course to maintain their ASU student status while gaining industry experience, and remain on track to graduate in four to five years.

The center provides several ways to connect with employers.

Students can find internships and jobs at any time through Sun Devil CareerLink, a national network of employers seeking interns as well as candidates for full-time jobs. Through Sun Devil CareerLink, students can post their résumés, access a network of career-development professionals, research companies, participate in company information sessions, and schedule on-campus interviews with prospective employers.

The biggest of the events held by the Career Center are the Fall and Spring Career Fairs, three-day events split between the Tempe and Polytechnic campuses. In fact, the Fulton Schools Career Fairs hold the record for the single largest career event attendance at ASU, which includes the university-wide career fair events.

This year, nearly 4,000 graduate and undergraduate students attended the Career Fairs on the Tempe and Polytechnic campuses to meet with 151 employers. Many company recruiters looking to hire at the Fulton Schools Career Fairs are Fulton Schools alumni themselves, and recognize the high caliber of its graduates. 

Note: An earlier version of this story misstated the locations of the upcoming Career Exploration Nights.