The College of Applied Engineering’s construction management program is hosting a career fair Friday, Feb. 12 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom.

The career fair will have 52 different local and out-of-state construction companies that are looking to hire students for internships and jobs. Since last fall’s career fair, 23 companies have been added, which nearly doubles the number of companies participating in the fair.

Graduates of the construction management program will also be there to share their work experiences with students.

“Word about our career fair is spreading, and our students are getting out there and bringing back their companies,” said Joe Karpinski, the construction management program coordinator. “This year, we’re probably going to have around 25 of our former students here.”

Karpinski said 75 to 80 students attended the fair last year. This year, with 170 students in the major, Karpinski said he urges all construction management students to attend and is hoping to see a turnout of 100 plus students.

Karpinski said even freshman are able to get internships from the fair after taking just one year of construction management courses.

“Most freshman take our safety course and they get their OSHA 30 card that they must have to be on the construction site as a manager,” Karpinski said. “Then they’ll usually take the document reading materials and intro to construction management classes, so even though they may not realize it, we hit them hard and early in the program so that they have a lot of necessary skills already.”

To prepare for the career fair, Karpinski said students in the major have also taken time during different classes to develop their resumes and work on skills needed to secure internships and future jobs.

He said that students planning on attending the program should dress up the best they can as well as come early to the fair to start talking with companies and begin to network.

Jenna Kuczkowski is a consumer tech reporter for the Kent Stater, contact her ar [email protected].