How to prepare for career fair
Senior Mechanical Engineering student Lauren Devney shares her experience of previous career fairs and how she is preparing this year.
Career fair can be a very stressful time for students, but it does not have to be. The key to having a successful experience at a career fair is the preparation beforehand. My first career fair I did minimal preparation and did not have a plan for when I talked to the companies. I would not consider any of the conversations I had to be great, but it is important to get used to talking to companies and getting over the anxiety around it. I try to remember that these companies are here to talk to college students, and expect some to be nervous.
For my senior year I am doing way more preparation and will be going in with more confidence. I have gone through all of the companies that I want to talk to, did background research on them on what their company does and their locations, and I wrote down some talking points to have and questions I have for the recruiters. Next I have prepared my elevator pitch and I have practiced it in the mirror and with my friends. I want to feel comfortable with what I am saying to help combat some of the nerves of talking to companies. It is also helpful to pick out some warmup tables of companies you are less interested in to get comfortable and prepared to talk to the companies you are very interested in.
There are also plenty of resources to use with the Career Center on campus and workshops listed on Handshake. I will be visiting the headshot booth to have an updated headshot and using some of the resources they have available to ensure my resume is the best it can possibly be. I also have updated my linkedin to prepare to connect with companies after the career fair and have signed up for some of the pre-career fair events to connect with companies.
Having this preparation gave me the confidence I needed to have a successful career fair. I talked to all of the companies on my list and have applied to a variety of positions. I also have reached out to the people who I receive business cards from and have an upcoming interview. Miami’s Career Fair is what you make of it, and this year I am proud of the work I put in.
