Before coming to college, nobody really told me how hard it would be to study liberal arts. I mean, of course, there were warnings that finding a job would be difficult, especially since I wanted to study film and enter the entertainment industry, one that is notoriously competitive. But that didn’t really deter me. Nevertheless, the environment at Notre Dame is what really threw me off. Sure, Notre Dame says if you study liberal arts, you can “study everything, do anything.” But I’m pretty sure we all know that’s a bit of an exaggeration. And if you didn’t, you would definitely realize it if you went to the Notre Dame Career Fair earlier this week.
I have gone to the career fair a couple of times during my undergrad career, and every time, all I have done is stand awkwardly in the corner, staring at all of the companies for maybe 15 minutes before I finally give up and leave. It’s not that I don’t prepare beforehand, it’s just that the types of companies are extremely limited. Every single company is somehow solely related to business, engineering or medicine, which is great for business, engineering and science students, but what about the REST OF US?! Where do we fit in? Are we simply doomed when it comes to finding a career and a successful job?
As a senior this year, I wanted my experience to be different. A year ago, I had ditched the career fair altogether, thinking there were no options for me as a film major. But this year, I decided to give it my all. I told myself I had nothing to lose, so why not? And besides, maybe these companies are looking for a refreshing film major to recruit!
I put on my business-casual best, threw on my glasses (purely to look smart, if I’m being completely honest) and headed over to the daunting Joyce Center. On my way to the fair, I passed by a crowd of boys in suits and ties and girls in pencil skirts and business suits, each with a professional padfolio in hand and even a briefcase here and there. I gulped, thinking to myself, this is WAY out of my league.
Thankfully, as a senior, you get to know a lot of people, whether you want to or not. It just happens. So I was able to find people I knew once I entered the fair. I bumped into a friend and we decided to take a lap and see all of the options, but this soon turned into lap after lap after lap. In all of my career fair experience, I had never actually approached a company and talked to a representative, which is the entire point of the career fair: to network. Say hello, make a polite introduction, ask an intriguing question about the business, find a way to smoothly drop off your resume and then zoom out of there. But as I looked at all of the companies, from General Mills to Deloitte to Accenture, I slowly realized just how out of place I felt.
Finally, I came across Hillstone, a restaurant company. Immediately, I became excited. Hillstone is my favorite restaurant at home, and I have been to almost all of the company’s other restaurants. I saw online that they had a restaurant management program, and I said to myself, why not?
After a couple of minutes of convincing myself, I finally forced myself to approach Keith, the Hillstone representative. I’m not going to lie, it was rough, but hey, it was my first time! I found myself raving about the restaurant, which I’m sure Keith appreciated, but my passion for their burgers doesn’t exactly qualify me for a job. Nevertheless, I was able to ask about the management program and awkwardly drop off my resume.
From there, I gained a new level of confidence. The hardest part was over and I knew I could approach anyone. I went to three or four other companies and learned about their jobs and programs, dropping my resume off in the process. Eventually, an hour had passed and I was done.
While my experience at the career fair ended up being fairly positive, I still left with mixed feelings. Even though I was able to expand my horizons and realize other paths I could potentially pursue, they were all limited to the business realm, and that’s not for everyone. I still felt like the career fair is not serving most of the student body. Many of my friends did not attend the career fair because they didn’t feel like there would be any job opportunities for them. This even included some of my friends majoring in Marketing, an area you would assume the career fair catered to. I also felt limited, as there were no opportunities presented if you wanted a career in entertainment.
Ultimately, Notre Dame has some work to do. The Notre Dame alumni network is expansive and not strictly limited to business, medicine and engineering. Why don’t we tap into some of that network so that other students can also get the resources they need in order to succeed after college? Otherwise, the career fair might as well be called the Business, Medicine and Engineering Fair instead.
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