BYU Career Services kicks off virtual STEM fair

BYU Career Services is hosting five virtual STEM fairs during February to create opportunities for students to connect with employers.

The first fair will be on Tuesday, Feb. 2 and will focus on opportunities in technology. The remaining fairs are for engineering; math and data; science; and civil engineering, construction and facilities management. Students can find more information on the Career Services website.

When Career Services held in-person fairs, employers said they would prefer a more focused approach, said Meghann Larkin, director of marketing and communications. “Taking that in consideration and with the trends we were seeing with virtual events, our staff spent some time dividing out the STEM fair into five smaller fairs.”

A benefit of offering multiple fairs is that students have many opportunities to network with employers, Larkin said. This also gives employers options in choosing which fair they would like to attend.

Adam Bates, a sophomore studying chemical engineering, plans on attending the engineering fair on Thursday, Feb. 4. He said he hopes to find opportunities like internships there.

“Especially freshmen and sophomore year, you go to try and get connections with some of the recruiters to help you in future years. But I think first and foremost the reason is just to get an internship,” Bates said.

Henry Davis, a senior studying physics, also hopes to get an internship from the connections he makes during the STEM fairs. He attended an in-person STEM fair during his freshman year and said he enjoyed talking with both the company representatives and other students who were participating.

While Davis said he’s sad there won’t be as much student interaction, he thinks the online format will be a great opportunity to reach out to more companies in a short amount of time.

The STEM Fairs have information sessions about internships as well as job and networking opportunities. “After a student has registered for the fair, they can sign up for recruiter one-on-one interviews or group sessions,” Larkin said.

She suggests students update their Handshake profile because that is what employers use to get to know the students before they meet.

Students must also create a Handshake profile to register for the fair sessions. They can create one here on the Handshake website with their BYU email.

Career Services can also provide more help in creating and refining Handshake profiles. “We have a team of peer career mentors who can help you with your Handshake profile and get you fair ready,” Larkin said.