Search Mode: Recruiters Google UCSD for Engineering Talent
By Rex Graham I February 20, 2005
A rollerblading engineering student threaded through a sea of more conservatively attired colleagues, all hoping to line up an interview for an internship or job with any of the 20 corporations participating in a student career fair February 15 at UCSD's Price Center. Wearing a black T-shirt and torn jeans, Scott Perry, a UCSD junior majoring in computer science, looked as if he was on his way to X Games Nine instead of UCSD's eighth annual Disciplines of Engineering Career Fair (DECaF). A black bandana covered chin-length brown hair that Perry plans to donate to Locks of Love, a charity that turns hair into wigs for young cancer patients.
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| Scott Perry, a UCSD junior majoring in computer science, chats with recruiters from Google. |
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"Hey, look. This guy's already Googly," said Bob Hancock, a recruiter for Google. Perry slowed to a stop at the search engine giant's booth and chatted about his other volunteer work: he collaborates on "open source," software programming. Such freely available applications often outperform proprietary software, and Google recently signaled its interest in what some call the countercultural ideal by hiring the lead engineer of the open source Web browser Firefox.
"Scott, are you going to be around tomorrow night?" asked Hancock. He invited Perry to an informational session with Google engineers and added, "We can take it from there." At cable modem speed, a high definition grin flashed across Perry's 20-year-old face. The following night, Perry joined more than 75 students who met with Google scientists in a UCSD classroom.
The U.S. economy and job growth may be sluggish, and technology companies may be facing tough foreign competition and pressure to keep profits up and spending down, but companies such as Google, Northrup Grumman, and Qualcomm - the three corporate sponsors of this year's DECaF event - were eager to mingle with UCSD students and talk about entry-level careers and internships.
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| Joel Perez, a senior who is majoring in aeronautical engineering at UCSD , waits patiently with other students to speak to representatives from Lockheed Martin Corp. |
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With a line of 10 to 15 engineering students continually waiting to talk to Gregory Chmielewski throughout the half-day career fair. Chmielewski, a recruiter for Sunnyvale, CA-based Lockheed Martin Corp., accumulated a stack of resumes and provided lots of advice about how to join the defense and aerospace company. "I didn't know it was going to be this busy," said Chmielewski, searching for one of his remaining business cards to provide to a visitor.
Chmielewski asked Joel Perez, a senior who is majoring in aeronautical engineering, if he would be willing to work outside of the San Diego area. Perez, who attended College of the Desert in Palm Desert, CA, for two years before transferring to UCSD, said he would definitely consider a move, particularly if it involved working on a project related to aeronautics or space. Perez has been hooked on aeronautics since his father, Filiberto Joel Perez, gave him a ride in the family Cessna 182 over Palm Desert more than 15 years ago. Perez currently is vice president of the UCSD student chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Recruiters for the 20 companies at this year's DECaF event, double last year's total, handed out free pens, calculators, and advice to Perez, Perry, and more than 500 other student attendees. Most of the companies are corporate affiliates of the Jacobs School of Engineering. "For these top notch companies, the ability to recruit UCSD students as interns is particularly important because it helps both the companies and the interns check out each other," said True Xiong, a fifth-year electrical engineering major and chair of the DECaF event.
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