I applied to NC State in the Fall of 2022 as a computer science major wanting to pursue a career in software engineering or research in artificial intelligence; however, I quickly realized in my freshman year that my passion lies in finance, particularly investment banking and private equity. Here’s how I navigated the process for obtaining internships at F500 companies up till my sophomore year.
ePack is NC State’s job and career resource portal. This portal has been useful for tailoring your resume to specific job postings, networking with individuals in your desired career fields, obtaining help for interview prep, and having a tailored job portal with jobs where companies will primarily hire from NC State. Particularly in fields like engineering, many companies prefer NC State grads due to its prestigious engineering program so this resource will be extremely useful. ePack is also extremely user-friendly and provides a lot of guidance and support when it comes to finding internships or job opportunities for NC State students.
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On top of our job portal, NC State has club-based and major-based alumni databases as well as networking events to help students get their foot in the door for competitive jobs. For things like investment banking, although NC State is a non-target school, the student-managed investment club, Belltower Capital Management, has a database of individuals who broke into banking and high finance successfully, allowing like-minded students to network with them and have a chance with breaking into their desired field. The same goes with other fields like robotics, mechanics, ergonomics, and you name it. A lot of the communities at NC State have their own network of individuals and networking events that help students break into industry significantly. In terms of high-level support for students, NC State has a semester-based career fair for each particular college (engineering, management, textiles, etc). One fun fact is that NC State has one of the largest engineering career fairs in the United States, bringing in top companies like Google, Amazon, Meta, and Lockheed Martin.
Overall, NC State places extremely well when it comes to job placements and opportunities. For engineering specifically, one of NC State’s most prestigious programs, the average salary is $78,230 right after college. For one of the highest paying majors within the engineering school, computer science places at $88,897, which is a lot higher than comparable engineering schools. The average salary for the university is $65,635 and places extremely well in prestigious higher institutions for graduate and doctoral school like the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Southern California, and Georgia Institute of Technology. If you’re looking for a large community and find communities that have similar interests and career goals as you, NC State would be a great option. On top of that, if you’re looking for a highly esteemed engineering institution that focuses on a plethora of real-world issues and teaches in a practical manner, NC State is worth looking at.