(Edmonton) When Daniela Diaz, a third-year materials engineering student, decided to attend this year's APEGA industry mixer, she had many questions about job opportunities in her field. After meeting a few engineers, many of her worries disappeared.
"I feel more confident about my career," Diaz said of the mixer, held Nov. 2.
It was Diaz's first time mingling with professional engineers, and she's definitely coming to future mixers with more burning questions she would like to address.
"Right now, I'm looking at a broad spectrum of careers in engineering, so next time, I want to know what field I'm going to go to. I want to know the specifics of the field," she said.
The APEGA industry mixer is an informal professional event where students can ask engineers different questions says Debbie Enslen, northern Alberta university co-ordinator at APEGA, and one of the event organisers.
"Some of the biggest questions we get right now are: What can I do to get a job?" she said.
One important way to do that is to attend mixers and listen to working professionals, says Iryna Roever, third-year chemical engineering student and Marketing co-ordinator with the Engineering Student Society, on the importance of improving networking skills.
"The skills that you learn at the mixer enhance your chances of landing a job," added Nicholas Seniuk, second-year mining engineering student and VP Student Life with the Engineering Students' Society.
This year, the mixer hosted around 50 APEGA professionals representing the majority of engineering disciplines, who are excited about helping students navigate through school and get their feet wet.
"I'd like to talk to students and teach them how to apply for jobs. I find that many of them don't really know how to do that yet," says Steven Li, one of the professional engineers participating in the event.