He looked, but the list isn’t up yet. He could look at the previous year though. What he did do is print a list of all the companies where ME and Aero grads landed jobs for the last three years. He’s researching them and contacting HR at the ones he’s interested in. Thanks!
Yes, Career Fairs are good, as is checking Post Grad Surveys to see where kids have gotten jobs. Also, check with the advisor or coordinator for the particular department. Sometimes they have employers that have a particular interest in the department and will reach out with opportunities. Be sure to sign up for departmental updates and be ready to respond quickly if that happens - have your resume and recommendations ready to go.
https://careers.calpoly.edu/search.php shows survey results of CPSLO graduates by major, including names of employers.
@ucbalumnus, that’s where he got his data for the past three years. It’s pretty helpful and easily searchable for all majors.
@eyemgh I know you posted this over the summer, but I wanted to let you know that recruitment is in full swing at my DD’s college. The multiple career fairs are this week (both for the COE, Major, gender etc- basically there are a lot!1), emails have been pouring in for her to apply to different companies and there have been info sessions, meet and greets, meals, bowling, tailgates, etc for many companies including some of the companies that you listed in your original post. I wanted to let you know so that you can make sure you son knows that the companies that he is interested in are visiting other campuses and posting jobs on their websites.
Good luck to him.
Thanks! I think he identified three areas that he has or will improve. First, he started earlier. There have quite a few positions posted. Next, he developed an ATS compliant resume. I think his previous format, the one he still uses if he’s handing it to someone to read, got spit out due to his formatting and file type. Lastly, he’ll use the career center more. Fingers crossed! Thanks again! 
Both of my boys are also at SLO in Engineering. The super senior got his first internship 2nd year there using the Cal Poly jobs board, he continued to work there part time during the school year and full time in the summers. The younger one got an internship his freshman year from somewhere you will not believe, Craigslist. Both of their first internships were in SLO. My older son just got a 2nd internship for summer and fall at the career fair.
Neither son has great grades but both had something the companies loved. A real passion for the things these companies did.
My older son got his first unpaid internship from an add on Craiglist. Now four years later he is still with that company in the executive position now. Never underestimate the power of the Craiglist!
Oh and I forgot to say my older one got two other internship offers this past summer, also from the Cal Poly jobs page.
it looks like your son is mechanical engineering at a school in California? or is it aerospace? looks like Cal Poly?
if he wants a job dealing with the gvt many of them close beginning end of sept-nov time frame.
my son applied direct to many places from Oct-Jan. Went to career fair for graduates but that did nothing.
my son had a multitude of internships and offers and applied directly to the company. Before junior year he got one at Northrup in San Diego (their drone division). The other interns he worked with were from Cal Poly, SDSU, Alabama. He also had a call from Lockheed but the timing was bad. They gave him a week notice and wanted him to fly to an interviewing event but he had finals then so it didn’t work out. All other interviews for his other internships or interested companies, conducted the interviews over the phone. He also had interviews on phone with NASA, JPL and other companies. Either he wasn’t interested or they were not.
@cali60, Yes, CP ME. 
I’m confused. Did the Career Fair do nothing, applying directly to places, or both? How did he ultimately get in contact with the company he landed his internship(s) with?
my son is not at CP (looking at the link someone posted, there are amazing companies that recruit there- thats a great school) He went to career fairs at school and gave out resumes. Even as a freshmen but none of the internships came from them. He just went online to various companies and applied direct. Senior year he went to the career fair and one of those connections led to an interview and then hire.
You never know how a company will find someone so cover all the bases. Is he wanting to stay in CA and work for Apple or Telsa? if he interested in defense/gvt?
just curious…do you know the average pay most CP undergrad mech eng earn? Seemed like a huge range.
Both of those companies are on his radar, along with quite a few others. He knows what he doesn’t want to do (HVAC, fire protection, manufacturing), but that still leaves a lot of areas. He’s casting a wide net, some home runs, some more pedestrian.
As for Poly, they do place ME grads into lots of good companies. That survey is voluntary and thus incomplete. I’d guess their average starting salary for MEs is around $70k.
great good luck…if you have more questions, feel free to PM me.
Well, at least at Cal Poly, it’s no wonder students are a bit frustrated with the job fair. They hold it during the school week. The line for Boeing was 45 minutes. JPL…1 hour 15 minutes. It’s hard to see many companies no matter how well researched and organized you are and still make it to class. Never mind stay on top of the day’s plans for fluids, vibrations, etc. I think I’m going to start a side business hiring business students as line sitters for engineers. :))
My experiences (and that of others) with career fairs were always… mixed. There are some decent opportunities there but also a lot of time wasting happens there, such as when you stand in line for an hour just to be told that no positions are open for the major jobs you’re looking for, and that the company was just overzealous with their posting.
Do your best and it’s always a good idea to go, but it’s only one opportunity of many. Online job board postings are a good choice as well and after the first 1-2 weeks of applying it becomes a routine 10-20 minutes a week task to scan the job boards (including the internal one of your school) and apply for any interesting open positions. If your resume is good, the results will be pretty good too.
Networking events and the like are another promising way to get some opportunities, but they aren’t fun or time-efficient if you don’t naturally enjoy them. Networking always plays some important role in finding a job, and a good job especially, but generally you have better networking opportunities when you have something unique to offer, not the low-level “my deadbeat cousin needs a job” kind of networking that is the instinctive perception that most people have of networking. As a student who is graduating or looking for an internship, the most you have to offer is the perception that you’re someone they can work with who is capable of learning, so a lot of what is called “networking” is of the lesser kind.
“They hold it during the school week.” - I’ve assumed that is true of all college job fairs. It would be harder to get recruiters there on weekends or evenings.
Having said that, I maybe evening would be good. I remember evening group sessions before job interviews. After my Con Ed session, I declined the interview to allow the to move to more interestest students for the waiting list. (Darn - I had dropped my #2 "preference card for it. But back then it was harder to do company research ahead of time so I didn’t know it was a bad fit.).
He’s got on it pretty early and got some strong applications in. Something will likely pan out. The process has been eye opening in a good way for him. He’ll have his ducks in a row come job search time.
Job searching, as I’m sure you know, is a process. You just keep applying and keep interviewing until something works out. If he has a reasonable level of competence then sooner or later he’ll find something that works for him.
"Job searching, as I’m sure you know, is a process. " - Very true. I’ve noticed that more and more interviews are done (at least initally) by Skype. It occurs to me that parents wanting to chat with their student should say it’s “good practice for job hunting”