Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and social distancing measures in place by the state of Illinois, the Engineering Career Center will be hosting a virtual career fair for Fall 2021. 

Thank you for your patience with us while we work to ensure an excellent recruitment experience for both employers and UIC Engineering students.

The Engineering and Computer Science Career Fair is one of the largest career fairs at UIC. Previous Engineering and Computer Science Career Fairs have drawn more than 150 companies and 2,000 students to the career fair.

It is a wonderful opportunity for employers to recruit entry-level full-time engineers as well as summer interns, co-op students, or even part-time positions or contract positions.

We encourage you to review our AY 2020-2021 enrollment to learn more about the number of students in each engineering major at UIC.

Schedule for Fall 2021 Virtual Career Fair Days 

September 22 (Day 1) Majors: Computer Science and Computer Engineering

September 23 (Day 2) Majors: Bioengineering, Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Industrial, and Mechanical Engineering

Time: 12-6pm (Central Time, USA)

Platform: Handshake
Note: Upon registration via Handshake, employers will have an opportunity to create their own schedule for the fair, including options to schedule the following types of sessions:

1. Up to three 30-minute group sessions to engage students in a group setting
2. Unlimited 10-minute individual sessions with students between. You can preselect students for these sessions, or you can allow day-of drop-ins. Each employer can have up to 15 representatives per registration. All representatives must create a free Handshake account.

Employers will need to create a free account on Handshake in order to register. If you have recruited with UIC in the past, your company information is most likely already uploaded to Handshake, so all you need to do is claim your account! Once you’ve registered for the virtual fair, your registration will be approved within 1 business day; then you will be invoiced.

If you have any questions related to the Virtual Engineering and Computer Science Career Fair, please contact:

• Rose Coppola-Conroy, Director
  • rcconroy@uic.edu
  • 312-355-5174
• Michelle Mittelman, Associate Director
  • mittel@uic.edu
  • 312-996-2238

Registration Information:

• Registration for the Fall 2021 Engineering & Computer Science Career Fair will begin May 17, 2021.
• Once your company has registered for the fair on Handshake, you will receive an invoice that directs you to UIC’s internal payment system to pay the registration fee.
• Your fair registration in Handshake will be approved after the Engineering Career Center has received your payment.
• Students will not be able to register for sessions with your company until payment has been received. 
• If your company is paying by check, the Engineering Career Center requires proof that your payment is in progress before approving your Handshake registration. Please contact Michelle Mittelman if you have any questions about check payment.

Career Fair Pricing:

ONE-DAY RATE

Company: $350

Government: $200

Non-Profit: $150

TWO-DAY RATE

Company: $700

Government: $400

Non-Profit: $300

Small Companies of <50 total employees: Please contact a member of the Engineering Career Center Team to discuss recruitment options.

Payment:

Credit card and check payments are accepted for the Career Fair. Please make checks payable to: University of Illinois Chicago and send to:

University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)

Engineering Career Center

Attn: Rose Coppola-Conroy

851 S. Morgan St., Rm 800 SEO

Chicago, IL 60607

Options:

• $125: company logo only placed in ECC’s student-facing newsletter 3 times before the fair. 
• $200: company is a “featured employer” in ECC’s student-facing newsletter, includes: 2 back-to-back weeks of company logo, one sentence description of company, majors and positions seeking.

Payment must be received before ads can be implemented.

For additional questions about marketing opportunities during the career fair, please contact Rose Coppola-Conroy.

Career Fair Registration: A full refund will be provided if a cancellation is received by Friday, September 10th for the Fall 2021 Fair. All registrations become final after this date. We cannot accommodate refunds for companies that decide on the day of the fair not to attend (no-show).

Marketing Opportunities: A full refund will be provided for cancellations received by Friday, September 10th for the Fall 2021 Fair. Refunds can only be issued for ads that are not already implemented.

No refunds will be issued for cancellations caused by natural events that are outside of our control.

Creating Your Session Schedule: 

You will be able to preselect students for 10-minute one-on-one meetings and up to three 30-minute group sessions on Handshake’s virtual fair platform. For one-on-one sessions, you can preselect students, or you can allow day-of drop-ins.

1. Add all representatives and fully build out schedules.

• You can still edit your company’s schedules during the fair.
• When you enter the representative’s name, also type “recruiter” or “engineer” so the student knows they are speaking with a recruiter, HR representative, or engineer.
• Please be mindful of time zones: some of your company’s representatives/engineers attending the fair may not be located in your time zone. Adjust your session schedule accordingly.

2. Test your video (button located in the upper right of their Fair Page).

• You can change your video to external (Zoom, Teams, etc.) even during the fair if you are having issues.

3. Ensure 1-2 reps have open sessions that don’t have student qualifications and/or have a group session without student qualifications so you don’t miss student sign ups that are mistakenly barred from joining (e.g. alumni – many employers forgot to select “alumni” in qualifications for sessions).

• This is a common issue: oftentimes employers put too restrictive qualifications on sessions, which reduces the number of students you are able to meet with.

4. The day of the fair, you will navigate to the fair and launch video sessions from your schedule (students may still sign up for sessions the day of, so continue to refresh your page!)

Some Helpful Videos:

Managing Employer Sessions- this can help you sort through how you can adjust group sessions, use external video, etc.

During the Career Fair:

• Please be patient with students whose technology is not working properly as everyone adjusts to a virtual recruitment environment.
• Please be mindful of time zones; some students are currently in different time zones which may result in them being occasionally late to your sessions.
• Have your own Zoom, Teams, WebEx, etc. video meeting link handy in case the Handshake platform has any issues.
• If you are open to being contacted by students, consider sharing your company email address with students during the fair. Students will feel much more invested in your organization if they have a contact to follow-up with regarding their applications.

After the Career Fair:

• Contact students you are interested in quickly!
• Consider other ways to engage with UIC students on campus via virtual Pop-Up, Info Sessions, Tech Talks, Post-Career Fair Interviews, and more. All are available virtually in Fall 2021!
• Contact us if you would like to learn more about additional engagement opportunities on campus, or to hear about additional upcoming career fairs hosted at UIC.

There are a few ways to access student resumes:

• When you enter the career fair, click on the RSVP tab in the top menu to view and download student resumes that have RSVP’d for your sessions. Here is a guide with screen shots on how to bulk download resumes from the RSVP tab.
• In the week leading up the career fair, the Engineering Career Center will email the representative from your company that registered for the fair with a resume book of all the students that have registered for the day of the fair that your company is attending.
• During the one-on-one sessions during the career fair, ask the student to email you their resume, or upload to the chat if you are having trouble locating their resume through the RSVP tab.

Common Questions/Answers:

• Can’t find my fair- https://uic.joinhandshake.com/
• I can’t see anything/blank page- check your browser (Chrome and Firefox are best).
• My video isn’t working- check video compatibility or use external video.
• No one is signing up- check your qualifications; you might need to edit, or completely clear qualifications. Add a group session as well if in a pinch (under manage sessions tab).