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On October 16th, 2015 from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m., Saint Xavier University and Career Services will hold their semiannual Internship and Job Fair. Already, with over thirty organizations in attendance, the job fair is looking to be a great success.
In interviews with Career Service’s Assistant Directors, Jodi Martin, Mary Fitzpatrick, and Mary Lu Wasniewski, information and insight were given about the university’s Internship and Job Fair. In previous years, the Internship and Job Fair lacked the word ‘Internship,’ and Martin expanded upon this change in title.
“We noticed that we didn’t have high attendance rates from freshman, sophomore, and junior students. I don’t think they realized that it was an internship fair as well as a job fair, so we thought if we put the word in there, we’d attract more of these students,” said Martin.
Career Services would like to see all students attend this fair. It gives them the opportunity to speak with distinguished employers and get experience networking with people already in their field of study.
Before organizations and companies show up on the day of the Internship and Job Fair, there is a lot of preparation to be done, and Fitzpatrick explains how they select organizations to come, and how this overall process works.
“We send out an invite to over 500 organizations and that’s how they hear about it. Those who want to come will register online. Sometimes, by word of mouth, information gets out to other organizations, so they’ll contact us directly requesting a spot. We will pretty much allow all organizations in, as long as the positions that they are recruiting for require either a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree,” said Fitzpatrick.
Wasniewski explains that all students will eventually be looking for a job. She believes that getting a good start is very important and attending the fair will give students an advantage in regards to networking and employer relations.
“Even if you’re not looking for a job right now, you will be next summer, or next year. This [fair] is a good way to start meeting employers, practicing what you would say to a stranger, practicing introducing yourself, [beginning to] network, getting names, getting familiar with the kinds of companies that come here, starting to think of questions you would ask. It’s important to start networking and getting comfortable talking about yourself and talking to [employers,]” said Wasniewski.
On the day of the fair, it is important to remember to dress, speak, and approach employers professionally. Appropriate dress and a stack of resumes for distribution are both a part of the ‘must-haves’ for the Internship and Job Fair.
“Students should be prepared to talk and network with employers and also be comfortable asking them about the different opportunities they have to offer,” said Martin. Students can gain valuable employer connections through these conversations.
Even if students aren’t looking for a job or an internship right away, they will take away a great learning experience. “It’s also open to students who just want the experience of walking around and checking out what the employers are offering. For freshmen who are not yet comfortable to actually approach employees, they might just come to get used to the atmosphere and the environment of the job fair. Those who are comfortable as freshmen, and of course, sophomore, junior, and senior students, should be approaching employers just to see what kind of opportunities they have available,” said Martin.
Before attending the fair, students are encouraged to attend one of Career Service’s events, ‘Navigating the Internship and Job Fair.’ At these presentations, students will learn how to effectively prepare themselves to visit the fair.
These presentations will be held on Wednesday October 14 at noon, and Thursday October 15, at three.
Also in preparation for the fair, students are also encouraged to check out the full list of employers at SXU’s website, with the keyword ‘job fair.’ By doing this search before the Internship and Job Fair, students will know beforehand which of these employers they may be interested in speaking to.
“What we like is for students to actually look at the employer’s websites beforehand so they are aware of the different opportunities that the employers are recruiting for. If they didn’t do their homework and prepare that, they can still approach the employer and see what they have to offer,” said Martin.
Whether or not students have a current job or not, the Career Service’s Assistant Directors encourage all students to partake in volunteer services during their career, as it is a resume builder and helps a person learn and practice new skills. This experience is especially important to students in college.
“Every student who walks through that door should be looking for job opportunities whether it be in the form of full-time, part-time, internship, or even just a volunteer job,” said Martin. Employers who come to SXU are looking to recruit students. So students should be willing to speak with them and take the opportunities that may be offered.
“Last semester, there were quite a few organizations looking for students at the volunteer level, so any student could start getting that experience as early as freshman year. Take for example maybe a psychology major who is just looking to get some experience, this fair would be a great way for this person to find that opportunity, to find a volunteer position. Then maybe sophomore year, they will look for an internship, and junior and senior year, a part time or full time job,” said Martin.
For Fitzpatrick, there are many beneficial and satisfactory aspects of the Internship and Job Fair. Students will find these benefits to help them throughout their college years and beyond in their professional careers.
She expresses her ideas about students who attend the fair and the level of professionalism they show to employers. “I like to see the connections that are being made. Afterward, when we’re cleaning up and recruiters are packing up their stuff, we as a staff walk through the fair and ask employers how it went. All the positive things that are said about our students is amazing. I remember after the fall fair, a recruiter at one organization went on and on about how prepared our students are and how well they did in the spot interviews, and that is just great to hear,” said Fitzpatrick.
Students with any questions about their outfits for the fair should contact Career Services, as they can direct them in the right direction when it comes to looking your best at the fair. Fitzpatrick talked about how important this function can be for students to network and what sort of impact attending a function like this could potentially have on a student’s future.
“This is students’ opportunities to network. You’re meeting a bunch of different recruiters from a bunch of different organizations at one time and you have no idea what opportunities are going to open up for you in the future. If you’re taking business cards, you can reach out to them in a month from now, or a year from now and just see what’s going on in that organization. So not only is this an opportunity to get an internship or a full time job, but it’s this wonderful networking opportunity for all students,” said Fitzpatrick.
Julie Gardner
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