Graduation and summer are upon us, and many students are starting to feel the pressure to find the perfect job or internship. A career fair is the perfect place to explore a variety of employment options and get noticed by recruiters.
The 2014 Spring Career and Internship Fair will be held on April 9 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Texas Union Ballroom. Liberal Arts Career Services is hosting 67 organizations in the for-profit, public and nonprofit sectors that are looking to hire students for internship or full-time job opportunities. Liberal Arts Council is co-hosting the event. All majors are welcome to attend.
“Career fairs offer a unique and highly valuable opportunity to students – the recruiters come to you,” says Monica Chartier, program coordinator for Liberal Arts Career Services. “Whether currently seeking jobs or internships or researching a future career, students should not miss this chance to speak and network with the experts right in their backyard.”
LACS offers preparation assistance for liberal arts majors, such as extended walk-in advising hours on April 7 and 8 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in FAC 18. They are also hosting a workshop called Making the Most of the Career Fair in FAC 18 on April 7 from 12 to 1 p.m. and 2 to 3 p.m. Students can RSVP for the noon session here and the 2 p.m. session here.
Lydia Kassa, a Middle Eastern studies Dec. ’13 graduate, now works as an inside sales representative for Oracle, a computer hardware company. She found her position while attending a career fair on campus.
“Without the career fair, I would have never gotten any exposure to Oracle,” Kassa says. “I found a job where I’m learning new information every day. Although it gets overwhelming at times, the fact that I will one day understand it all keeps me motivated.”
Kassa has advice for other students attending career fairs. The first is to be open to anything and everything. She says the first two job offers she received were from companies she’d done very little research on and had just happened to stop by to introduce herself. This relates to her second tip – not shying away from companies just because you haven’t heard of them. All companies are worth looking at, Kassa says.
Finally, Kassa recommends that students bring plenty of resumes. Starting meaningful conversations with recruiters is key and a resume is a great segue into introducing yourself as a qualified candidate.
Liberal Arts Career Services has a variety of other information about getting ready for a career fair, from preparation advice to tips on how to dress to advice straight from the mouths of recruiters. Students can find more information about the event and explore the list of attending employers through the LACS website.
Photo credits: COD Newsroom / Flickr, TAMU-Commerce Photo / Flickr