Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Deep, long breathes.
My heart rate quickens as I approach Conte Forum. Wipe sweaty hands on pant-sides five times? Check. Tuck hair behind ears 60 times? Check. Look down to see that I’m wearing pants? Check.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Forget to breathe regularly? Check.
No, I was not about to take the LSAT’s. Neither was I prepping to run a 200-yard sprint. Nor was I on my way to an Intro to Neuroscience exam. I was three steps away from entering BC’s annual Career Fair.
After changing my blouse a thousand times and making sure I had five résumés printed out and neatly arranged in a folder along with a list of the companies I wanted to speak to, I decided I was ready to take my chances and begin my swim in the see of CSOM suits that filled Conte Forum. About 50 companies were lined around the top of Conte and another 50 were set up in rows inside the rink boundaries. Most were finance or accounting companies like KPMG, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, and PriceWaterHouseCoopers.
Being a Communication and Economics double major, you can no doubt see how out of place I felt in this strictly-business world. My roommate, a CSOM Honors student, blended easily among our peers and knew how to talk-the-talk and walk-the-walk. I, on the other hand, almost tripped over my own feet.
I spent a couple minutes soaking it all in. The heat, the noise, the stressed seniors itching for a job, the lines of people waiting to talk to employers, the seriousness of it all. I had no real goal in mind (mistake number one), I had just planned to test the waters and try to network around, more for the practice of talking to employers than actually trying to win a summer internship (which I badly need). After walking around the top of Conte twice and getting lost in the rink part of it, I finally found a map of the layout.
Conversations about what each company did and what they had to offer floated around me as I waited in line to talk to a Bloomberg representative. I remembered to smile and introduce myself.
Was the Career Fair a success? For people like my roommate, yes. BC does an amazing job at inviting some of the top companies in the country to come recruit BC students. And the cool part about it is that a lot of the people who come to represent the companies are BC graduates and, as most BC students do, they loved their time here. You see, those tuition dollars are really paying off with these great connections!
But overall, I’d say it wasn’t a big success for me. I had little focus going into the event and was confronted with my own confusion and unpreparedness. I’m absolutely, positively sure, that the employers and company representatives also knew this.
However, I’ve learned from the experience and come up with a list of tips for you collegiettes™ as you attempt to venture out into the real world, and I strongly encourage that you try to do so as early as possible.
Career Fair Survival Tips:
Bring at least five copies of your résumé.
Do you even have one? Drop by the Career Center for help on building one and structuring it in the BC style.
Is there anything valuable on it? List experiences that are relevant to the field you’d like to go into. Again, the Career Center has office hours for résumé critiques. Your parents and advisor are other good resources.
You don’t necessarily have to give out your résumé to every employer you speak with, but that way if they ask for it (and this is a good sign), you have some copies at hand. Also, feel free to leave your résumé with companies you liked, even if they didn’t ask for it.
Don’t forget to collect any materials from the companies.
Business cards, information sheets, booklets, pamphlets…etc. And most importantly, SWAG. Anything they give, you take. Bring a regular folder or a business style résumé carrier (the bookstore sells these with notepads in them for taking notes about companies) to carry your résumés in and to hold anything you collect.
Do your research in advance.
Figure out which companies are coming before hand and create a list of one’s you’d be interested in working for. The list of companies can be found on EagleLink, which can be accessed through the ‘Career Center’ link in Agora.
Research more about the companies by visiting their websites.
Know how they run their business and what they offer to students. You’ll impress the employers with this knowledge, and it’ll also help you avoid that awkward situation when you have to ask what the company does… (yeah, personal experience).
Have a goal in mind.
Do you want an internship or a full-time job? Or are you in it for the networking experience?
Get there early.
This way you can do some scoping out, get a feel for the place and also snag one of the layout maps before they run out. This will also allow you to beat the lines and be able to spend more time talking to different employers.
Employers don’t eat people. They are regular human beings.
Seriously. Also, as I mentioned earlier a lot of them are BC graduates, so you already have that in common with them if you can’t find anything else to say. And just a hint, they’re usually more open and friendly because not too long ago (or maybe so) they were in your shoes. Helpful hint: you can recognize these people by the little eagle on their name tags. Thank the Career Center for that little cheat!
Introduce yourself with a confident handshake.
A handshake can speak a thousand words, so make sure yours communicates all good ones! Introduce yourself, tell your major, what year you are, and what you are looking for (internship or job), what field you’d like to go into, why you like their company, and ask them what they have to offer. Smile, nod, pay attention. Don’t look away; this indicates you either don’t have time to talk to them, want to go talk to another company, or really aren’t that interested.
Dress for success.
If you’re in the business world (aka an intense CSOM-er), you probably already own 10 suits. For the rest of you though, make sure you remind yourself to find a suitable outfit at least a week ahead of time. Don’t wear 6-inch heels, they will only damage your feet and increase your risk of falling, tripping, or looking like you’re more into looking good than looking successful.
Make sure your shirt is not see-through or that the buttons on your blouse don’t gap open. A looser fit is recommended along with a nude bra. Don’t wear skirts that have hemlines above your knees. Fishnets and stockings are a big no-no. Dark or nude tights are fine. Tie up your hair if it is shoulder-length or longer. You don’t want to be playing with your hair or flipping it around as you talk to potential employers. It also just looks neater and fresher if your hair is pulled-back in a ponytail or bun.
*Holes, tears, rips, stains, worn-out look, are all a big no-no.
Most importantly, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. You’re a Boston College student, and that should be enough to start with. See you at the next fair!