By Emerson Scollo
A career fair or a job fair is an event where a bunch of hiring businesses set up tables and give out information about their business as well as collect contact information from the people attending.
Different classes at William Peace University, such as the internship or senior capstone courses, require students to attend career fairs in order to get experience and make connections for possible jobs.
This semester, WPU student attended two such fairs. One was the job fair hosted at the McKimmon Center at NC State University on Feb 15. The other was on open house hosted by Red Hat on Feb. 20.
Why Go to These Events?
Career fairs are a perfect chance for students to make connections with possible future employers. It provides a good opportunity for the student to hear about the company from someone who works there as well as ask questions that will help them determine whether or not the company is a good fit for them.
“I went to this event because it was recommended by two teachers from the classes that I’m taking, and also to get good experience on things like talking, having conversations, meeting people and learning how to ask questions about certain companies,” said Moriah Shipman, a senior simulation and game design major.
For Kaylah Derilus, another senior simulation and game design major, the career fair helped her practice networking.
“These events help me practice talking about myself to people and to talk about what I do,” said Derilus. “I gave out my resume to three different tables just to get myself out there and network with other people.”
This provides students with a chance to get feedback on their resumes and portfolios from actual employers. This will help them make edits in order to set their resumes and portfolios apart from the rest.
What to Prepare for the Event?
“You should check ahead of time what type of companies are going to be there,” said Shipman. “So you already have in your mind especially if you’re pressed for time what stations you need to hit first and yeah, just know to prepare questions.”
This is super important because you want to have questions prepared to ask the companies so it’s always a good thing to do research on the companies ahead of time so that you have more than just basic generic questions to ask.
Another thing to think about before going to these events is that these events are typically pretty professional so business casual is the way to dress. As mentioned before these events are a great way to get feedback on your resume, portfolio or business cards, so make sure to bring them with you so you can get that feedback.
These events can be super beneficial so make sure to start attending them so you can get yourself out there and maybe even find a job opportunity that you didn’t know was even there.