The first half of the METU Career Fair, annually organized by METU Center for Career Advising and Professional Development (KPM), was completed on March 14-15. Held at the Culture and Convention Center, the fair provided students with a chance to get acquainted with numerous companies, acquire information about job and internship opportunities, and also to introduce themselves to employers. The fair will continue on March 18-19 with the participation of various companies.
A total of 55 companies participated in the first part of the fair on March 14-15. Among the special participants of this half of the fair were Eti Soda, FNSS Defense Industries Inc., Enerjisa Üretim, Kazan Soda, Roketsan, Siemens, Tualcom, Türkerler, and Türkiye Petrolleri.
“We aim at bringing students together with companies”
Participants shared their thoughts about the fair for METU NEWS. Lect. Ozan Yavuz, a member of METU KPM, said that students experienced difficulties in reaching out to companies, so they aimed at bringing them together with companies. Yavuz also stated the following:
“With this fair, we aim to bring students together with companies because we know that students sometimes encounter difficulties in reaching out to companies. This fair provides students with internship and job opportunities, as well as other educational possibilities. A close communication is established here between students and companies. Compared to previous years, the presence of the participating companies in the fair is even larger this year. We have a diverse range of companies with a focus on the defense industry, but there are also lots of companies from other sectors such as energy, information technology, biomedicine, and pharmacy. The attending students are doing their best to benefit from the fair as much as they can.”
“The fair targets engineering departments”
Ege Aydoğan, a third-year student at the Department of Architecture and also a member of METU Young Entrepreneurs Society, also mentioned how the fair connects students with companies. Aydoğan went on to talk about the shortcomings of the fair, emphasizing the need for more efforts in the future to include other departments more, as the fair predominantly targets engineering departments. Aydoğan also stated the following:
“In my opinion, the career fair is a great event as it connects students with various industries, and online channels are not sufficient to achieve this. It’s a valuable experience for all of us. However, as an architecture student, I personally find it challenging to find many suitable companies to get acquainted with , because the majority of companies are targeting engineering departments. I believe that more effort is needed in this regard for future career fairs. And one more thing to note is that lots of companies have already closed their long-term internship applications, so perhaps the dates of the next year’s career fair can be set by taking this into consideration, too.”
Civil Engineering student Barış Can Günaydın stated that through this career fair, which hosts valuable participants from various industries, students have the opportunity to meet with companies, while companies also have a chance to make recruitments according to their needs. “I think we are having a pretty good fair, and student participation is quite high,” he added.
Second-year student Beyza Gülerce from the Department of Biological Sciences shared that thanks to this fair, they are able to meet with companies and improve their communication skills. She expressed, “I really enjoy participating in the career fair and also taking responsibility in the organization of the event.”
“It is crucial for us to introduce students to the automotive industry”
TOFAŞ Early Talent Management and Employer Branding Specialist Ceren Naz Dindar emphasized the significance of meeting with students, communicating with them and introducing them to the automotive industry. She said the following:
“We participate in the METU Career Fair every year. As always, this year’s fair is quite busy and enjoyable for us at the same time. Being in Ankara, introducing the automotive industry and TOFAŞ to students is crucial for us. Being able to communicate with them, meet them, and see their motivation for the automotive industry always feels great.”
“Future interns from METU will further strengthen our team”
Hüseyin Ali Açıkol, a member of the Human Resources department at Vakıf Katılım Bankası, stated that the future interns coming from METU would further strengthen their team.
He added, “METU is an excellent university especially in the field of engineering. We strive to come here every year. We are pretty happy with this high participation. The aim of the students is to gain information that will be useful for their professional careers. Our future interns from METU will further strengthen our team.
Emek Kara from the Human Resources department of Nobel Pharmaceuticals stated, “We are here to learn and understand which fields the students want to work in. We are very pleased with the attention shown to us by the students. We have shared information with them regarding our medications.”
METU Career Fair will continue on March 18-19 with the participation of various companies. Detailed information about the fair and its program can be found at https://kariyerfuari.metu.edu.tr.
