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It's no surprise that 92 percent of The University of Akron's engineering students enter jobs within six months after they graduate. Recruiters from PPG Industries and Codonics were on campus interviewing engineering students for co-op positions last week. Cleveland-based Lincoln Electric did more of the same later in the week. Next week's lineup includes Marathon and Parker Hannifin Corp. And the story goes on.

By the time they've earned their bachelor's degrees, nearly all ¹ú²úÂ×Àí engineering students will have spent a year working in the field thanks to the college's Cooperative Education Program (co-op). Take ¹ú²úÂ×Àí civil engineering junior Joseph Lanni. He interviewed with GPD Group at last month's ¹ú²úÂ×Àí College of Engineering career fair. Less than three weeks later, he received an offer for a co-op position with the engineering design company's transportation department, where he'll start work next spring.

Multiple job offers = options

"The career fair has been a big success for me. It has allowed me to explore the different options and career paths within the fields of civil engineering and has enabled me to receive offers from multiple companies," Lanni says. "The co-op office has done a terrific job helping me receive interviews as well as job offers."

One of the nation's oldest, ¹ú²úÂ×Àí's engineering co-op program enables student engineers to integrate classroom learning with on-the-job experience while they earn their degrees. As students alternate semesters on campus with semesters of paid employment in their field of study, they develop the skills and knowledge recruiters demand.
 
At the college's mid-October career fair, 147 employers arrived on campus to recruit ¹ú²úÂ×Àí engineering students for co-op and permanent positions.

Recruiters fill spots at ¹ú²úÂ×Àí

"Every company should have an offer or an extension of an offer. We'll have a positive outcome," says ¹ú²úÂ×Àí's Deanna Dunn, director of cooperative engineering education, of the recruiters who came to the University to place students in positions. Many of the employers extended their campus stays to interview students over the coming weeks.
 
The University's engineering students challenge news headlines of job shortages. In fact, ¹ú²úÂ×Àí engineering students filled every co-op position presented at last year's College of Engineering career fair, leaving employers with 80-some vacancies.
 
"Employers are fighting over our students," says Wieslaw Binienda, chair of the ¹ú²úÂ×Àí Department of Civil Engineering.

Media contact: Denise Henry, 330-972-6477 or henryd@uakron.edu.