Drexel 2011 Fall Career Fair

More than 190 employers will line up to recruit from more than 1,200 students and alumni at Drexel’s Fall Career Fair. The fair is also open to students from area universities. Perspective employers will be searching for both full-time employees and co-ops. The fair will be held on Wednesday, October 12, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Daskalakis Athletic Center in the Recreation Center Complex located at 33rd and Market streets.

Despite a tightening labor market, the Drexel Career Fair has seen a 20 percent increase in the number of employer organizations attending this year. Both large and small firms will be recruiting at the fair. There has also been a 66 percent increase in the number of full-time jobs being posted for graduates with most of the opportunities emerging in the areas of engineering, technology and business, according to Peter Franks, senior associate vice provost for career education and head of Drexel’s Steinbright Career Development Center.

“The reason our career fair is so large, is employers can hire a variety of types of employees to meet their human resource needs,” Franks said. “The number one reason that so many employers are interested in our career fair is that our students have up to 18 months of full-time work experience from co-ops by the time they graduate. They have real professional experience and knowledge of how to perform at high levels immediately.”

Graduates with degrees in the fields with the most demand—computer science, computer engineering and chemical engineering—saw the largest increases in average starting salary. Graduates in computer-related fields saw a 9.6 percent jump from $58,189 to $63,760. The averages salaries of engineers rose 2.9 percent to a starting rate of $60,291. Petroleum engineers, ranked tops in average starting salary at $82,740. This represents a 7.1 percent hike over last year, according the National Association for Colleges and Employers (NACE).

The NACE survey notes that “paid interns had the most success attracting job offers in 2011.” These students are also most likely to have a job offer by the time they graduate. Through Drexel’s cooperative education program, students alternate periods of classroom study with periods of off-campus, full-time, paid professional-level employment in positions aligned with their academic interests.

More than 1,500 business, industrial, governmental, and other institutions “cooperate” with Drexel in offering students the opportunity to acquire practical experience in employment related to the college studies. Drexel’s largest co-op employers include Microsoft, Comcast Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline, Lockheed Martin, Johnson & Johnson, Motorola, Siemens and Sunoco.

Drexel has responded to the burgeoning global market by providing students with the opportunity to gain international exposure through co-op.

More than 300,000 college students attend more than 83 higher education institutions in Greater Philadelphia. Among them, Drexel University has one of the largest academic career fairs. The Steinbright Career Development Center maintains strong ties with local, national and international business through Drexel’s co-operative education program. Drexel’s co-op program is the second largest in the nation comprising 1,500 employers in 42 states and 38 international locations.  

The list of employers attending the fair, can be viewed at: http://www.drexel.edu/scdc/events/careerfairs/careerfair.html.