Two decades ago, nobody applied for work via the Internet; it was all done with hard-copy curriculum viteas and cover letters. Technology has now advanced to the point where the majority of preliminary corporate connecting does happen elecEmma O’Neill tronically. Unfortunately, some job hunters interpret this as a sign that they don’t need to attend personalized campus events. “Fewer and fewer companies are accepting paper résumés; they want seekers to go to their websites The Intangibles and upload them,” explained John Rindy, the director of Realistic career opportunithe Office of Career Services ties, of course, are the ultimate Dr. Rickey Booker Jr. at Slippery Rock University in goal, but job fairs provide stuPennsylvania. “This does not dents with a number of intanmean that the job fair is unimportant. gible—and highly beneficial—experiences It’s a place where you can make a lasting, that make attendance worthwhile even if professional impression on the recruiter they don’t lead to immediate salary nego… and a chance to bolster your networktiations. “Career fairs are a great time for ing and other professional skills while students to practice their ‘elevator speech,’” visiting with employers.” However, just explained O’Neill. “To get comfortable combecause fewer businesses are demanding municating with people from the business printed documents that highlight your world, as well as familiarizing themselves skills and achievements, it’s still crucial to with a wide variety of employers who are make them available. “It is important to interested in hiring the college population have a professional résumé that has been for entry-level roles or internships. It’s also reviewed by a career specialist,” Rindy a great benefit to have a face-to-face interadded. “Bring along a few copies, but don’t action with a potential employer since the get discouraged if you return home with application process has become an increassome still in your portfolio.” ingly online undertaking.” participating. While some events have certainly seen lower numbers, many of our annual career fairs still sell out and have full waitlists. Even in the current economy, the University of Washington campus hosts more than a dozen career fairs annually, and the majority of the employers attending are actively seeking candidates for job or internship positions. Soon-to-be-graduates can absolutely discover realistic career opportunities at these events.”
21st-Century Approach Just as Rindy and his team have helped students navigate the latest networking trends and protocol at 21st-century career fairs, they’ve also played an important role in promoting new ways to make the events more successful. “A consortium job fair is a collective effort of several colleges and universities to pool certain resources,” he explained. “The result is a much larger job fair than any one of our schools could have managed on their own. We are one of 44 institutions that make up the Western Pennsylvania Career Services Association. Twice each academic year, the consortium supports job fairs that attract well over 100 companies and agencies.” For students, this is a wonderful situation during which they can introduce themselves, learn about different corporations, and hopefully make a solid, personal first impression to some 100 organizations— all in one stop. Don’t discount the benefit to employers, either. “With shrinking human resources and recruiting staffs and budgets, companies have to pick and choose which job fairs they attend,” Rindy said. “This gives them a large captive audience of job seekers all on one day. It’s certainly an efficient way to bring students and employers together.” While the consortium approach is designed to increase attendance by including a wide range of businesses, another route to job fair success is to pare them down. The University of Arkansas in
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