On Jan. 23 and 24, Cal Poly’s Winter Career Fair saw over 900 students gather in the recreation center to network with industry representatives, collect company swag, and interview for job positions, according to Handshake.
The fair hosted 116 companies, including Edwards Lifesciences, Pacific Gas & Electric, Caltrans and the U.S. Navy. Compared to the fall career fair which hosted 252 companies including Cisco, Tesla and Procter & Gamble — as mentioned on the Handshake page — the winter career fair was significantly scaled down.
Defense contracting companies Lockheed Martin and General Atomics were also present this year, which resulted in a pro-Palestine protest outside the career fair.
Landing job opportunities
Many students in their last year, such as software engineering senior Rhoyalinn Cereno, opted to attend the career fair hoping to find a full-time job.
“It’s been hard to find full-time jobs right now because software companies are mostly offering internships,” Cereno said.
The success students have at the career fair varies.
For biomedical engineering senior John Shelby, he “personally [has] not found a lot of success at the career fair.”
“I have been able to get to the first interview, but not any further,” Shelby said.
In contrast, aerospace engineering senior Olivia Matthews said she “received internship opportunities from the Career Fair before, so I would say I’ve had a high success rate.”
One aspect that has remained consistent is Cal Poly’s reputation for Learn By Doing. Executive Director of Career Services, Amie Hammond explained that companies often hire Cal Poly students because of their industry readiness and alumni often come back to Cal Poly to recruit more employees.
According to the 2022-2023 Career Services annual report, over one-third of the representatives at the career fair are Cal Poly alumni.
Discipline disparity
Some students at the career fair feel dissuaded by the long lines to speak with a company representative.
“The long lines are definitely a problem,” Shelby said. “I would recommend having different time slots for students to speak with companies.”
Another concern some students in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) or the College of Science and Mathematics (BCSM) have is finding opportunities related to their major of study.
“The career fair has not been effective for me. I feel like it is geared towards engineering and maybe a little bit of business,” statistics junior Nidhi Shinde said.
Career services has acknowledged this discipline disparity at the career fair.
In 2015, Cal Poly hired two employer development specialists to speak with companies and discuss opportunities for students in CLA and BCSM, according to Career Services employer development specialists Homero Barragan and Taylor Law. They consult employers on degree programs at Cal Poly that are the most applicable for their jobs and internships.
“For example, we will consult medical device companies about hiring our microbiology and biochemistry students,” Barragan said.
Specialized career fairs are also offered to expose students to field-specific opportunities. The College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) and the College of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) hold their own career fairs. There are also discipline specific career fairs such as the Packaging and Graphic Communication career fairs.
To learn about future Career Services events and fairs, access their calendar here.