UIC College of Engineering - Student Development
Preparing our students through Industry Internships and Collaboration
October 4, 2010
Industry perspective: Internships are important
• New graduates with internships are more
likely to have received a job offer.
• Forty-two percent of the seniors who
had internship experience and applied
for a job received at least one job offer
vs. only 30.7 percent of seniors without
internship experience.
• The median accepted salary offer for
seniors with an internship was $45,301—
nearly 31 percent higher than the
$34,601 median accepted salary offer to
non-intern seniors.
Source: The 2010 Student Internship Survey; NACE
Students who held internships experience a significant advantage during
the post graduation job search.
Industry perspective: Internships result in higher salaries
Salary Offers – Internship vs. No Internship
Source: The 2010 Student Internship Survey; NACE
The implication of internships on salary are particularly important within
the engineering, computer science and general business fields.
Industry perspective: Current internship trends
• Internships are up 2.9 percent vs. last year. While this represents a modest
increase, it is a significant turnaround from 2009 when the intern hiring rate
dropped by more than 20 percent.
• However, the increase in intern hiring is not even across the board with finance (38.6 percent), engineering services (-18.9 percent), and chemical
(pharmaceutical) manufacturers (-11 percent), internship opportunities down the
most. Offsetting these are increases from other industries, including computer
and electronics manufacturers (22.8 percent), government (40.3 percent), retail
trade (15.6 percent), and miscellaneous professional services (39.3 percent).
• Similarly, intern hiring plans vary by region. Employers in the Northeast (-5.5
percent) and Midwest (-4 percent) report declines, while the Southeast (13.7
percent) and West (5.6 percent) report increases.
Source: The 2010 Student Internship Survey; NACE
Overall, university undergraduate internship levels are still down in
comparison to 2008 levels hitting some geographic areas and industries
particularly hard.
UIC Perspective: COE Student Internship Situation
• Fortune 500 companies generally partner with a
limited set of universities within their formal
internship programs
• The implication is these universities gain access
to a disproportionate share of the internship
opportunity
• Surveyed 2010 UIC COE seniors suggest that
despite this disadvantage the average graduate
has .52 internships vs. a national average of .66
for the graduating university engineering
population
• With overall engineering and midwest university
internships down year over year, UIC’s COE is
showing a three percent increase 2010 vs. 2009
Have you worked in at least one engineering-related
internship while at UIC?
Yes
48%
52%
No
If you answered YES , how many semesters did you
work in an engineering related internship while at UIC?
3 or more
2
1
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Source: UIC Student Survey, July, 2010 – Graduating Seniors
On-going UIC COE outreach to companies has resulted in a steady growth
of Engineer Career Center internship postings.
50%
UIC Perspective: Target One
UIC COE’s goal is to ensure that all graduating seniors
have access to and engage in at least one internship or
research experience during their college stay through:
• Engaging students at the underclassmen level
educating them on the importance of internships,
developing professional skills and interacting with
companies
• Executing programs outside of recruitment fairs
that extend relationships with existing Fortune 500
on and off-campus
• Working through industry partnerships to expand
reach and target small, high-growth companies
e.g., ITA, IMEC, Inroads
• Establishing a robust on-line strategy to capitalize
on the increase in industry hiring via social media
If you answered NO to question #9, please indicate
why you did not work in an engineering internship
while at UIC.
Not employed; too busy
with classes/school/extracurricular activities
18%
32%
37%
13%
Employed, but not in an
engineering internship and
not looking for one
Employed in a nonengineering related job, but
was looking for an
engineering internship
Was focused on
undergraduate research
with professor
Source: UIC Student Survey, July, 2010 – Graduating Seniors
“Target One” is a goal to make all UIC COE seniors competitive via
placement in at least one internship or research experience prior to
graduation.
UIC Perspective: Target One – Engaging students earlier
Outreach throughout the students university career
Freshman
Sophomore
Junior
Career Boot Camp
(new 2010/11)
Engineering
Career Prep
Day x2
Engineering
100
Engineering 100
Senior
Engineering
Career Prep Day
x2
Office of Career
Services FT
Recruitment
Services
Professional Development
Corporate Internships
Engineering Career Fair / Recruitment Services
On-going Engineering Career Center outreach:
•
•
•
•
•
Corporate networking, information sessions and panel discussions
Individual resume and interview counseling
Engineering career center workshops (resume, interviewing, networking, professional etiquette)
Targeted daily and weekly email communications
Engineering student organization career workshop
UIC Perspective: Target One – Engaging students earlier
Focus on increasing the average number of student internships through earlier engagement
Sophomore
Career Boot Camp
(new 2010/11)
Engineering 100
Career Boot Camp
Fall semester one day workshop designed to introduce undergraduate students to
practical, real-world exercises in professional and career skills
Agenda:
Introduction
•Welcome
•Goals of Career Camp
Networking 101
•Elevator pitch
•Written vs. verbal communication
•How to build your network
Art of the Effective Resume
•Format
•Target your audience
•Cover letter
Impactful Interviewing
•How to sell yourself
•Professional etiquette
•Research
•Mock interview and role playing
Business Etiquette
•Networking
Internship Peer Panel
Student panel discussion of internships experiences and career development learnings
UIC Perspective: Target One – Expanding existing relationships
2009 / 2010 UIC COE Engineering Career Center Student Outreach
SEPTEMBER
• Individual Advising
•4 Internship/Career Workshops
•Engineering Career Prep Day
•BMES Society Mtg
•Engineering Council Mtg
•AICHE Meeting
•NSBE Meeting
•Weekly email communication
•AB Innovation Awards
•UOP Info Session
OCTOBER
•Individual advising
•Caterpillar/SHPE Info Session
•4 ENGR 100 classes( approx.
•Underwriters Laboratories Tour
•Maxim Integrated Products Info Session
•Navy Info Session
•Weekly email communication
NOVEMBER
•Individual advising
•Hollister BMES Info Session
•SWE/WISE Info Session –DLA Piper
•ITW Information Session
•2 Internship/Career Workshops
•Motorola Networking Workshop
•Weekly email communication
DECEMBER
•Individual Advising
•Finals/Holiday Break
•Weekly email communication
JANUARY
•Individual advising
•Engineering Career Prep Day
•Microsoft Info Session
•2 ENGR 100 classes
•Siemens Building Technologies Info Session
•Weekly email communication
FEBRUARY
•Individual advising
•Google Info Session
•Caterpillar Info Session
•Tau Beta Pi Workshop
•UIC Engineering Career Fair/6 corporate workshops
during E-Week
•BioE Medical Admissions Workshop
•Motorola Resume Workshop
•Motorola Green Technology Talk
•Weekly email communication
MARCH
•Individual advising
•BioE Resume Workshop
•BioE Alumni Panel Discussion
•Archer Daniels Midland Info Session
•Weekly email communication
•WISE Info Session
APRIL
•Google/MERRP Info Session
-Motorola Interviewing Workshop
•Merrp Mock Interview
•Agile Capital Info Session
• Google Info Session
•WMS Gaming Info Session
•UIC Majors Expo
MAY
•Individual advising
•Finals
•Weekly email communication
UIC Perspective: Target One – Extending COE industry reach
Recent research suggests smaller companies, despite
being more volatile, tend to consistently provide more
opportunities while large companies are experiencing
slow, predictable change with little increase in new jobs:
Example Industry Partners
• Fast growth companies (9-100 employees) expect to
increase hiring across all degree levels, with total hiring
up 26%
• Small companies (101-500 employees) report hiring
targets will be up more than 15% over last year. These
companies will make 11 total hires per company, of which
eight will be at the bachelors level
• Medium-size companies (500-3999) are dealing with
serious economic challenges. Jobs continue to be lost,
down 11% for total hires
• Large companies (>4000) will decrease total hiring by 3%.
Large companies have shrunk their hiring significantly
over the past 18 months from 114 to 66 bachelor average
hires.
Source: 2009 and 2010 Recruiting Trends; Career Services and Collegiate Employment Research Institute
UIC COE is looking to capitalize on the growth within small companies
through reach of industry partnerships.
UIC Perspective: Target One – Extending COE industry reach
UIC COE Snapshot of Spring 2010 Company Partners
Abbott
Argonne National Laboratory
Bank of America
Baxter Healthcare
Bayser Consulting
Blackmore Partners LLC
Blistex Inc.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
Borg Warner
Caterpillar
ComEd
Cooktek
Erca Group
Evans Construction
Exelon
Facebook
Filtran LLC
Fisher Nuts
GE Transportation
Google
Illinois EPA
John Crane
John B. Sanfilippo & Sons, Inc.
Kinder Morgan
Midway Games
Minneapolis Heart Institute
Monsanto
Motorola
Nanya Plastic Corporation
Collins Engineering
Novarra
NREIP
PCTEL
Principal Manufacturing
Schure
US Cellular
Vapor Bus International
Verizon
VMWare
WB Games Chicago
Woodward MPC
Yahoo
STO Security
Klein Tools
Navistar
Panduit Corporation
Walgreens
Libera, Inc.
Comcast
JP Morgan Chase
Azteca Power Company
UIC Perspective: Target One – Capitalizing on social media trends
• Traditional company campus activities are down
considerably:
• 42% will reduce the number of schools they
visit
• 46% will reduce the number of career fairs they
attend
• 36% will hold fewer on-campus interviews
• Hiring among companies using social media is
projected to be up 13%. To take advantage of
opportunities in the small business labor market,
graduating students will have to pursue strategies
beyond traditional campus recruiting methods.
• Small businesses are less likely to visit campus to
interview, attend job fairs, and speak with faculty.
Source: The 2010 Student Internship Survey; NACE
UIC COE is revamping it’s website and looking to better understand
available on-line tools and linkages as the internship market changes.
UIC Perspective: COE Advisory Board Ask
• Approximately forty percent (80) of 2010 graduating seniors were not afforded an
internship opportunity resulting in making them less competitive during the
recruitment process.
• The ask:
Hire at least one intern each semester for the 2010/11 year.
• Given the small staff, UIC COE has limited means to target companies thus need to
work through industry partners with extensive reach. These organizations can be
particularly effective in connecting UIC within the small business market.
• The ask:
Provide the name and an introduction to industry associations
that bring reach and have complementary interests with UIC COE e.g., ITA,
IMEC, Inroads.
• Many of the successful connections thus far have been through Board connections.
UIC COE would like to build internship opportunities in the Chemical, Bioengineering
and Energy areas.
• The ask:
Provide names within the COE Faculty target list of companies.