Types of Career Events
Penn State offers a wide variety of virtual and on-campus career events that help employers connect with students, faculty, and career staff. Some events are open to all students, while others target specific colleges or majors.
University-Wide Events
These larger events serve students from multiple colleges or campuses and are useful for employers seeking a broad talent pool.
Examples include:
- Career fairs
- Résumé reviews
These events are typically organized by central Career Services.
College or Departmental Events
These smaller events focus on students within a specific college or major, such as engineering.
Examples include:
- Career fairs
- Résumé reviews
- Networking receptions
These are usually hosted by the College of Engineering or individual departments.
Custom Events
Want to do your own thing? Our staff can help you arrange special smaller-scale custom recruiting events or activities just for recruiters from your company or organization, targeting students in specific majors or student organizations.
Options may include:
- A professional development talk on a technical or workplace topic—popular topics include what employers look for on a résumé, how to prepare for interviews, and how to be successful at work
- An information session to promote your company or organization
- A Recruiting Day
- A tabling event
Most custom events are free. Recruiting Days and tabling events have associated fees.
Arranging a Custom Event
To schedule a custom event, contact the Recruiting Manager and provide:
- The type of event you want to host
- Proposed event format, e.g., in-person, virtual (note that, for virtual events, we strongly recommend use of a widely-known and used platform like Zoom or Webex)
- Overview of the proposed event (e.g., discussion about the company, followed by Q&A and networking)
- Proposed event date, and starting and ending time
- Desired degree levels and majors, if the event isn’t open to all engineering students
- Any other details you feel are important for students to know, e.g., how to register (if necessary)
Promoting a Custom Event
The office can promote your event through the Events page on our website and digital monitors in the College of Engineering.
If you want to provide your own promotional slide, it must:
- Use a horizontal layout, sized 1920 x 972 px
- Be created in a standard editable design program (e.g., PowerPoint, Photoshop)
- Be editable by staff (both text and design elements)
Employer slides or other promotional materials may not include any Penn State logos, including athletic logos, without express advance permission from the Penn State Office of Strategic Communications.
Please note that we are unable to share paper flyers or posters from employers or to distribute slides or other materials to students through email. We are also unable to assist in the promotion or management of any event at which alcohol will be served.
Custom Event Setup and Delivery
- For in-person events, arrive early and bring all needed materials
- For virtual events, log in at least 15 minutes early to test your setup
- At least one recruiter must remain present for the entire event
Custom Event Cancellation
If you need to cancel, contact the Recruiting Manager as soon as possible so participants can be notified and any reserved space can be released.
