With spring break and midterms behind us, we are now headed toward that crazy time of year, the end of spring semester! The end of the year is the most hectic time of year, for both fun and professional events. During the spring you may find yourself attending events such as the Career Fair, the Celebration of Academic Excellence ceremonies, and Commencement. In addition, many of us will be going on job/internship interviews, talking to graduate schools, or giving final presentations in class. No matter what the occasion, it is important that you are best prepared and present yourself professionally. To help, here are some tips to make sure you are putting your best self forward this spring!
Dressing Professionally:
1. Whether you are attending the Career Fair, an honors ceremony, or giving a presentation in class, it is important to look your best. What you wear can impact how you present yourself in these situations.
2. If you are attending the Career Fair or a job/internship interview, you will want to wear business professional or business casual attire. For Siena’s Career Fair, seniors are expected to be in business professional attire, while underclassmen can choose to wear business casual. No jeans, sneakers, t-shirts, or sweats count as business attire under any circumstance.
3. For class presentations, what to wear depends on the class and the professor’s standards. For many business presentations, professional business attire is required. Many professors tell you what they expect to see in your attire and some even grade you on dressing professionally. If you are unsure as to what your professor expects, don’t hesitate to ask!
For group presentations, make sure your group discusses what each person is going to wear. Some professors do not require professional dress, but often group members choose professional attire anyway. Make sure you know what your group is wearing so you don’t end up in jeans while everyone else is in a suit on presentation day!
If you don’t have to dress in business attire for a presentation, still put in the effort to look nice! It will make you feel more confident and will give a great first impression when you present to your professor and peers.
4. For honors ceremonies, dress in your best professional attire. You want to look your best and show your pride in your accomplishments!
Being Prepared:
1. For events like the Career Fair, it is necessary that you have many copies of your resume with you! Companies will often want to add you to their records and see what you have accomplished. If you are nervous about striking up conversation, showing your resume is a great tool to spark a conversation with a potential employer.
You can also include business cards with your resume as an additional form for contact information. Stop by the Career Center to ask about receiving your own business cards!
2. Prepare an elevator speech for networking. An elevator speech is a quick presentation of your academic accomplishments, goals, strengths, and skills used to promote yourself to a potential employer. Keep your greatest accomplishments in mind as you attend the Career Fair or other networking events.
3. When at the Career Fair or during interviews, make sure you have researched the company you are talking to and ask questions. In situations like these, employers are there not only to learn about you as a potential employee, but also to help you learn more about their company and what they have to offer.
4. During class presentations, keep notecards with you to outline your presentation and write down key points you don’t want to forget. Presentations are nerve-wracking, but notecards are an important tool that not only help you remember facts, but can give you a break from making eye contact with the class, and can keep you from fidgeting during your presentation.
5. Make sure you practice your presentation a number of times beforehand! Practice alone and time yourself giving the presentation at various speeds. If your presentation has a time requirement, make sure you have enough to say to meet that requirement. When you are nervous, naturally you will talk faster, so practice slowing down your words. By timing yourself, you will know if you need to add or cut to meet any time requirements.
Practice your presentation for a friend or family member, so you will become more comfortable presenting in front of an audience. Have them ask questions to help you see if anything in your presentation is unclear.