Recruit Engineering Talent

Engineering Career Development offers companies many opportunities and programs to recruit engineering students. 

If you are looking for co-op, intern, or entry-level, full-time candidates, we can work with you to schedule an event or develop a custom recruiting plan to meet your needs.

Explore the links below or contact Allison Berger at 847-491-2613 to get started.

Jump to a Section

• Recruiting Events
• Career Fairs
• Posting Positions
• Off-Campus Recruiting Events
• Interviewing
• How To Hire International Students
• Policies & Expectations

Recruiting Events

Employers have the option to host in-person or virtual events.

Events Featuring Just Your Company:

Host a Company Day

• Set up your company booth on our online platform Brazen.
• Meet and greet students throughout the day online.
• Base cost is $50 for a booth using our platform.

Host an Information Session

• Host a virtual information session to talk about your company and job opportunities with students.
• Meet future candidates for your talent pipeline.
• Information sessions are free to book if you are using your own platform. They are $50 if you plan on using our virtual platform.

Host Coffee Chats

• Host Virtual Coffee Chats to meet with 1 or a few students in a more casual setting
• Create an appointment schedule for students to sign up
• Discuss career paths, offer to review resumes, give advice, or just talk with students.
• Cost: Free

Conduct Interviews

• Post a position on McCormickConnect
• Create an Interview schedule for students. Options include a preselect or open schedule.
• Cost: Free

Broad Opportunities to Meet and Engage With Students:

Resume critique days

• Volunteer to help our students prepare for the Career Fair!
• Virtually meet one-on-one with students using our platform.
• Review student resumes for about 10-15 minutes.
• Discuss career paths, give advice, or just talk with students
• Cost: Free

Attend Our Student/Employer Networking Events

• In addition to our career fairs, we hold a number of other student/employer engagement events throughout the year
• Keep an eye on the "Career Events" tab in McCormickConnect to see all of our upcoming events

Conduct a Roundtable

• Roundtable events offer an opportunity for students to gain valuable insights and industry knowledge directly from experienced professionals and subject matter experts.
• Employers have an opportunity to connect with top talent and showcase their organization. By participating in these events, employers can engage with motivated and ambitious students and identify potential candidates for internships, entry-level positions, or future hiring needs.

Contact Allison Berger, Manager, Employer Relations at 847-491-2613 to schedule your on-campus recruiting event. You can also see a calendar of our major recruiting events on the Recruiting Events Calendar.

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Career Fairs

Fall

SWE Industry Day Career Fair

• For all Engineering and Technology students and employers.
• SWE Industry Day Career Fair takes place in October each year. For more information on dates Click here.

Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Career Fair

Civil Engineering Career Fair

Winter

STEM Career Fair

Formerly "Tech Expo Career Fair"

• For all Engineering, Science, Math and Technology students and employers.
• STEM Career Fair is held each year in January. Official date is still to be determined. For more information on dates Click here.
• A great resource for STEM students.

Big 10 Diversity and Inclusion Career Fair

Posting Positions

Engineering Career Development uses a secure online database management system called McCormickConnect to connect employers and students for co-op, internship, and full-time positions.

Get Started

1. Log into McCormickConnect
2. Create a profile for your company/organization and designated point of contact in McCormickConnect
3. Once we activate your account, you will be able to post positions, review resumes of qualified students and select candidates for interviewing
4. If you have any questions, contact our Recruitment Coordinator, Michelle Bledsoe

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Off-Campus Recruiting Events

Off-campus recruiting opportunities include:

• Company or plant tours
• Host coffee chats/office hours
• Virtual information sessions
• Virtual career fairs
• Shadow days

Contact Allison Berger, Manager of Employer Relations, at 847-491-2613 to start planning your recruitment strategy.

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Interviewing

To arrange a date to interview students on or off-campus, contact Michelle Bledsoe, Recruitment Coordinator, at 847-491-5994.

To optimize your travel, you can coordinate your interviewing schedule with any of our career fairs or register for McCormick Interview Days. Please take our student academic calendar into account when planning.

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How to hire international students

International students account for 23% of Northwestern’s full-time student population, and bring a wealth of talent and diverse perspectives to the organizations where they work.

Employers can hire Northwestern international students for internships under CPT (Curricular Practical Training) and for post-graduation roles under OPT (Optional Practical Training). 

For more information about hiring international students, see our Northwestern Employer Guide: Hiring International Students.

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Policies & Expectations

Offer Guidelines

These are guidelines for Northwestern University and are effective for companies that recruit on and off campus. If you have questions or concerns about an employer’s adherence to these policies, please do not hesitate to contact Northwestern Engineering Career Development.

Northwestern strives to provide adequate time for students to thoughtfully and carefully evaluate offers of employment. We expect that students will pursue opportunities of genuine interest and that offers will be given the strongest possible consideration. Return employment offers at the conclusion of a summer internship should be kept open for a period of three weeks. All other offers (intern or full time) should remain open for two weeks.

Occasionally, an employer’s hiring timeline may fall outside of these preferred windows, and/or a student may ask for an extension or exception to these dates.

We expect employers will:

• Demonstrate flexibility in working with students to consider reasonable requests
• Communicate hiring timelines clearly and acknowledge if they fall outside ECD’s preferred offer policy guidelines
• Not place undue pressure on students to make offer decisions

We expect students will:

• Not accept an offer for employment while continuing to pursue other opportunities
• Make requests for reasonable accommodations in a timely manner
• Work under advisement of ECD and make ECD staff aware of any instances in which our stated offer dates cannot be met

Once you accept a job offer, whether via On-Campus Recruiting or in an independent job search, it is the expectation that students will decline other interview invitations and stop applying for other opportunities. Reneging on an offer is unprofessional behavior that negatively impacts your reputation and that of Northwestern University, our alumni, and current students.  ECD reserves the right to rescind access to its services (as deemed appropriate) should a student renege on an accepted job offer.

Career Development Anti-Discrimination Statement

Northwestern’s Policy on Institutional Equity prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, parental status, marital status, age, disability, citizenship status, veteran status, genetic information, reproductive health decision making, or any other classification protected by law (referred to as “protected classes”) in matters of admissions, employment, housing, or services, or in the educational programs or activities Northwestern operates.

NU’s Interim Policy on Title IX Sexual Harassment applies to sexual misconduct that occurs within specific geographic and programmatic parameters. You can read more about that policy here:

https://www.northwestern.edu/equity/documents/interim-policy-on-title-ix.pdf

Other forms of misconduct not covered by this policy or the Interim Title IX Policy on Sexual Harassment may be addressed by other Northwestern policies (e.g. Student Handbook, Faculty Handbook, and Staff Handbook). The University has adopted the following standards of conduct for all members of our community – students, faculty, and staff, as well as University vendors, contractors, visitors, guests, volunteers, interns, and third parties. You can read more about these policies here:

https://www.northwestern.edu/equity/documents/policy-on-institutional-equity.pdf

Any alleged violations of these policies or questions with respect to nondiscrimination should be directed to Northwestern’s Office of Equity, 1800 Sherman Avenue, Suite 4-500, Evanston, Illinois 60201 or

https://www.northwestern.edu/equity/index.html.

Employer Expectations

Although the above-mentioned policies do not explicitly apply to external partners, it is our expectation that alumni and employer partners uphold these principles during recruitment activities and professional experiences with students including, but not limited to co-ops, internships, and practicums. On a regular basis, the Career Services Offices at Northwestern will inform our partners of these expectations and inform students of their options for reporting concerns of discrimination or harassment experienced during such activities and experiences.

Students can report concerns about specific employers or supervisors either to any of the career services offices at Northwestern, or directly to Northwestern’s Office of Equity. The Office of Equity will maintain records of any such report and will coordinate an appropriate response to the concern with a panel of Northwestern career service professionals. The panel of career service professionals will review any concern and consult with the Northwestern staff member or office who manages the relationship with the employer or supervisor. The panel will then make recommendations regarding follow up actions to the office or individual who manages the relationship. Final decision for implementation of any next steps will rest with the office or individual who manages the relationship with support from the career services panel and the Office of Equity. When considering next steps, the panel will review the current concerns in context of past and/or future concerns.

Next steps may include:

• Discussion and written documentation of Northwestern’s concerns with the organization’s supervisor and/or human resources.
• Issuance of warning letter, citing relevant information along with criteria for improvement. Notification of career services staff of the determination.
• Suspension of recruiting privileges and university-sanctioned work experiences. A list of currently suspended employers will be maintained for students to view within the university recruiting software systems. Notification of career services staff of the determination.
• Termination of recruiting privileges and university-sanctioned work experiences. A list of terminated employers will be maintained for students to view within the university recruiting software systems. Notification of career services staff of the determination.

Recruiting relationships may be reinstated at the discretion of the individual or office that manages the recruiting relationship.

Notification of this Statement:

Each year via email, the career services offices at Northwestern will notify students and employers of these expectations via email.

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