Wednesday, September 26, 2012

UCC Fall Career Fair 2012


Fall Career Fair-- Business Dynamics Professional Dynamics: Track II


Upon entering, everyone was given a sticker with their name, major, and year, a booklet of all businesses there, a map of the layout of the Pavillion, and finally, this snazzy bag to put in all your items!
The Fair was set up in aisles all along the length of the Pavilion. Upon entering, a lady swiped my wildcard, handed me the subsequent sticker, which contained my name, year, and major, as well as a book of businesses present and a map. From there, I was set off on my own to weave through business representatives.
Upon entering, I felt completely intimidated: the majority of people there were upperclassmen looking for jobs or internships while I, not knowing at all what to expect, had barely prepared. I began by slowly walking through the aisles, not really knowing how to approach anyone until a group called me over. They explained their business, Connelly, and asked what kinds of opportunities I would be looking for. After a short while in conversation, I quickly discovered that their mission really did not match my interests. Regardless, by calling me over, they helped me draw confidence to talk to other companies. I consulted the booklet given to me upon arrival, which contained a brief description of the company, what they were looking for, in addition to lists of groups by majors and, most helpful, companies that were freshman friendly. Pretty soon, I became use to the process; because I did not have any particular companies in mind, I would walk around to see which companies I might be interested in talking to. Then I would quickly read the blurb provided in the booklet and then proceed to introduce myself. Generally, after explaining their company mission, I asked about what attributes they looked for in students, what internships are offered and when, and their company’s global impact.
When I finally stopped at the Clay Center table about an hour into the Fall fair, they handed me an extremely helpful sheet in meeting and talking to representatives.
My main goal in attending the fall fair was to learn about the possibilities for the future and what I could do to improve my opportunities. Most representatives were more dismissive to me only because I am a freshman and cannot currently take on a position at their company. Still, I was very interested in a lot of the opportunities some of the groups offered. I noticed for full time positions, some companies required that their new employees take at least one year in general training before splitting off into more specialized positions. For all positions, about half the companies I talked to were very specific in wanting a student majoring in Accounting or Management, while others were still more general and were confident they could train any student to fulfill the positions they needed.

I was surprised to see how many promotional items were given to students; especially for companies that actually manufactured those products, it was wonderful to see the items you may be working on in a solid tangible sense! I was especially amazed with all the products I had never seen or heard of before!
Ultimately, I learned quite a bit not only about what possibilities for internships and positions were available but also what companies might be looking for. Though most companies were offering internships for only juniors, some had programs that accepted sophomores and two of the companies I talked to had availability for freshman! Most of the representatives were extremely helpful and I loved hearing them talk about how much they loved their company, because it gave me a sense of the atmosphere at that workplace. All together I talked to about twenty companies and from this experience, I know that in the upcoming years when I go to the career fairs, I will not be intimidated and know exactly what to look for.

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like the Career Fair was quite useful. Great job on taking the initiative to meet so many recruiters; it will only get easier the more you attend such functions.

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