The Winter 2013 Career Fairs are almost here (February 27th, University Wide and February 28th, Engineering)! Take advantage of this last weekend to put the finishing touches on your resume and 30-second infomercial. If you’re still debating whether you want to go or not, here are a few great reasons to stop on by.

• If you’re a senior and still need to find a post-graduation job, what better way is there to find one than through the Career Fair? The employers come to you, and often they’ll also conduct interviews here on campus, no need for you to go anywhere. The Career Fair offers a large potential for reward with little cost of time or energy.
• If you’re looking for a summer job, consider stopping by to chat with employers about internships. Internships are a great way to gain real-world experience in your field of study and are often either paid or offer a stipend. Participation in an internship might even help you decide whether a certain career path is for you or not, and could lead to a future job if the company likes you enough to hire you after you graduate.
• Practice makes perfect! If you’re a freshman/sophomore and don’t feel ready for post-graduation life, use the Career Fair to practice meeting employers and networking. That way when it comes down to actually getting in the game, you’ll have a lot more confidence and be more prepared for what to expect.
• If none of those reasons convinced you, then hopefully I can appeal to the most basic sensibilities of a typical college student – free stuff. Companies donate awesome prizes to win, and they’ll often also bring free goodies which you can pick up at their table when you meet them.

Don’t be intimidated by the prospect of meeting employers, they’re nice people and some of them are even OSU alumni! Just put your best foot forward and have confidence in yourself, and I’m sure the Career Fair will be a great experience for you.

P.S. Don’t know what a 30-second infomercial is? Check out our helpful guide to creating one and other ways to prepare for the fair.

Reference: http://www.sonoma.edu/sbe/career_fair.gif

Posted by Deirdre Newton, Career Services Assistant