OSU Institute of Technology students and industry partners came together Tuesday for the Spring Combined Career Fair.
The fair was aimed at students in the schools of Construction Technologies, Energy Technologies, Engineering Technologies, Information Technologies and Visual Communications.
Representatives from more than 25 companies in those industries were on hand to meet and talk with students looking for internship or employment opportunities, including OG&E; Phillips 66; Shafer, Kline & Warren; Manhattan Construction Company; Matcor, Inc.; RAE Corporation; Magellan Midstream Partners and Kimberly-Clark Corporation, just to name a few.
Charles Franks is the talent acquisition lead at OG&E and hoped to find some good candidates for several internships and full-time jobs at the career fair.
“We’re looking for good students, students with ambition,” Franks said. “My experience in the last three years we’ve been able to fill over 50 percent of positions just through our relationship with OSUIT.”
One of those students Franks spoke with was T.J. Wilson, a Power Plant Technologies student, who attended Tuesday’s career fair looking for internship possibilities.
“I wanted to get acquainted with the companies here and get my name out there,” Wilson said.
Instrumentation Engineering Technology student Meridikian Cunningham also attended the career fair Tuesday.
“I’m about to go on internship, so I thought this was a good opportunity to explore,” Cunningham said.
Recruiter Heather Thurston and Pipeline Integrity Engineer Kyle Marlay represented survey, engineering and construction company Shafer, Kline & Warren at the event.
“We’re here looking for pipeline students. We’ve been to career fairs here before and had great success,” said Thurston.
Marley said she enjoys coming to the career fair to talk with students who are where she once was about where they could go.
“It’s nice to see an interest in that industry and talk with them about my experiences,” she said.
Wilson and Cunningham said the career fairs offered by OSUIT are a great chance for students to meet potential employers and learn about the companies in their industry.
“I like the idea,” Cunningham said. “It’s an excellent opportunity, not a lot of places do something like this.”
Wilson agreed.
“I think it’s a good opportunity for all the students here, as long as they take advantage of it,” he said.