Friday, October 3, 2014

Career Fair Tips

As I typed this, I was wearing a suit for my interview later. Over the past year, I have interviewed with a few companies that I met at Pre-Gallery, Career Gallery, and Engineering Expo.

Here a some of the tips that I learned during my time at Michigan State:
  • Try to get as much interaction with companies that interest you as much as possible. This year when I spoke to the representative from Dow Chemical, he said that he remembered me from last year. Many of the same recruiters return every year and save old resumes. Also attend engineering student organization meetings, info sessions, resume critiques, mock interviews, and/or any other events that companies are hosting.
  • You are not too young to attend any of the career fairs. I have gone to all of the career fairs since my freshman year. The first time I went to an event, I only talked to a couple people and felt pretty overwhelmed. Now I am much more comfortable attending these events, especially as I am looking for an opportunity this summer. Also, a lot of companies hand out some really cool free stuff, including full-sized products.
  • Go to the career events even if you are not looking for an opportunity within the next year. I have some friends that already have internships or other opportunities lined up for this summer, but went to career fairs to network with companies and inquire about future opportunities. Just make sure that you are professional, clear with recruiters that you are not available, and do not accept an interview for a job that you never intend to accept.
  • Visit the booths for smaller companies and/or with smaller lines. While I was waiting in a long line for a large company last year, I talked with some representatives at a small booth. I probably would not have stopped there, but I actually heard back from them and got an interview.
  • Use the career resources available to you, such as The Center. The Career Services Network at Michigan State offers a lot of great resources to help you with careers. Their website has a lot of helpful articles about resumes, interviews, professional attire, cover letters, etc. The Center is a branch of career services that focuses on engineering located within the Engineering Building right by Sparty's. It is a really convenient place to visit, just try to do so BEFORE the week of Career Gallery because they are very busy.
Like always, these are my own personal opinions and not the official opinions of Michigan State University and its affiliates.

I was looking at my older blog post from a year ago, and a lot of the advice I would give students now and a year ago is the same. Even as I get older, I still find all of these tips just as important, if not more important.

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