Engineering students to get career tips from professionals

The Towne Building will be transformed into a market of corporate representatives tomorrow as the 17th annual Engineering Career Awareness Day brings students in the School of Engineering and Applied Science together with engineering, government and consulting employers. The school will host 250 representatives from a record-breaking 89 companies -- including Microsoft, Proctor & Gamble, Mobil and IBM -- in an event covering all of Towne's three floors, Engineering Career Counselor Rosette Pyne said. "ECAD is the premier event for SEAS because it encompasses the entire school," she said. While freshmen, sophomores and juniors can gather information about companies and drop resumes for summer positions, seniors and graduate students have the opportunity to learn about available positions in their prospective fields. "We encourage students to participate and learn as much about the organizations as they can," Pyne said. Participating companies receive an Electronic Resume Book -- a collection of resumes from graduating seniors, master's and doctoral students. In addition to introducing students to recruiting firms, the resume book provides an important tool for companies in their search for prospective hires, and many firms unable to attend the event purchase the book. "These companies want to attract the brightest, most adaptable team players," Pyne said. "They find those students at Penn." "They wouldn't come if they didn't think it was beneficial to the companies," she added. ECAD supplements the firms' on-campus recruiting efforts, she said. The Career Planning and Placement Service has been reviewing resumes and conducting workshops since late August as a service to Engineering students and as part of its preparation for the event. In addition, the CPPS World Wide Web site contains tips for getting the most out of Engineering Career Day. And job descriptions from participating companies are available in the CPPS library. "These resources maximize the efforts of students to do research and focus on the companies they are most interested in," Pyne said. An event of this magnitude takes months of recruiting and planning and the program would not be possible without the help of student volunteers -- many of whom will arrive at Towne as early as 6 a.m. Tuesday to help set up, she added. ECAD Student Chairperson and Engineering junior Harris Romanoff has been working since the summer to contact companies and encourage their participation. "This event is very much based on student involvement," he said. ECAD will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will be followed by a dean's reception for faculty members and student leaders.