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Summer Libecap ’21 has experienced both sides of the Career Fair table – as a student seeking a job, and as a company representative seeking out the next generation of talent. With these dual perspectives, Libecap has a unique viewpoint on the STEM career fair and how students should best approach it. 

“I started going to career fairs when I was a second-semester freshman,” she said. “I remember having the palm sweats when I was shaking other people's hands at the booth.” Today, Libecap is a CEC alumna who attends ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú’s career fair almost every year as a company representative for Packaging Corporation of America, or PCA. As an Area Engineer and a recent CEC graduate, Libecap has a valuable viewpoint for current students looking for their first job out of college. Her advice? Attend career fair early and often in your academic career – and once you’re there, try your best to relax. Career fair is “not something to get so worked up about or stressed out about,” said Libecap. “It’s not a one-way street when you're trying to find a company, it's a two-way street. Not only is the company interviewing you, but you're also interviewing that company.”

When speaking with students at the career fair, Libecap tries to help students by keeping it light.

“I try to crack a couple of jokes to make students laugh a little bit,” said Libecap, stressing that the career fair is “not something to really get overwhelmed with” even though it sometimes can feel that way if you’re just getting started. To remedy this, Libecap advises that students attend career fairs as many times as they can. “I would start going to Career Fair as soon as you can just to get over the career day jitters,” said Libecap.

Libecap’s path to PCA

Connecting with ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú University students at career fairs is just one part of Libecap’s role at PCA, where she works as an Area Engineer. According to Libecap, what an Area Engineer does varies from company to company. “A lot of times Area Engineers are working on capital projects and managing communication from vendors to plant management,” said Libecap. "Working on optimization projects, helping with machinery, the 5S, setups, downtime reduction projects. It’s a learning role that can really make an engineer well-rounded.”

Libecap's road to PCA was not a direct path – and she wants other future engineers to know that. Starting with her first internship in mechanical design (HVAC and plumbing), Libecap went on to a second internship at an aerospace manufacturing company. Now an Area Engineer at PCA, Libecap said she’s happy she tried out multiple aspects of professional engineering while covering twelve plants across Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Being able to try out the different fields and getting a good feel for what I like to do day-to-day has been huge in my development,” she said.

Emotional intelligence as an engineer

Libecap recently returned to ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú University's College of Engineering and Computing to present a talk called “Utilizing Emotional Intelligence as an Engineer” at the May 2024 CEC Alumni & Friends conference. In this talk, she described the methods and tactics she used to implement projects being a new engineer in the corrugated industry. Libecap shared with attendees how new engineers can increase the chances of future projects being successful by utilizing calculations and data, getting buy-in, and using the power of influence with crews and upper management. 

The topic of emotional intelligence is an important one for Libecap. “Being able to have that emotional intelligence of how you can work with people” helps with project success, she said, but it also impacts job satisfaction. “​​It makes your job so much more enjoyable when you love working with the people that you're working with,” said Libecap. Building up an emotional intelligence skill set involving conflict resolution, and understanding how to work with different personalities, can make a real difference for an engineer like Libecap, who estimates she spends 75% of her work time directly engaging with people. “You do have downtime where you're working on spreadsheets and gathering data and all of that, but a lot of it is working with the people at the plant, working with vendors. You're working with project managers. And you’re getting buy-in from plants, and corporate, and everyone else, to get your projects done,” said Libecap. 

A commitment to continuous learning

Libecap’s commitment to learning has been evident throughout her career, starting with the rotational program she entered right after graduating with her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from CEC in 2021. “I always thought once I graduated I would be a full-blown engineer immediately,” she said. “But, I learned that being part of those rotational programs is where you get to really understand the business. That is huge for an engineer’s development because you always want to understand the problem as much as you can before trying to solve it.” 

Amidst her busy schedule of covering a dozen plants across multiple states and using emotional intelligence to engage productively and enjoyably with colleagues across PCA, Libecap is also pursuing her MBA from ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú Online. 

“I don't want anything to hold me back from the next step of my career,” said Libecap. “And I really value education. I think that's a really important tool to have in your back pocket.” 

If you would like to learn about current career opportunities at PCA, please visit the PCA booth at this Thursday’s upcoming STEM Career Fair at Millett Hall from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Because of construction, please be sure to enter through the  off of Weeb Ewbank Way (Gate 1).