The ISU Career Center is hosting the annual Career Fair in the Pond Student Union Building Ballroom on Tuesday, Feb. 19. It will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“[This year’s fair] will be very similar to fairs we’ve held in the past,” said Interim Director of the Career Center Lance Erickson.
The Career Fair will be open to students of all grade levels and majors. Erickson said he believes the variety of employers in attendance will meet the needs of a wide variety of majors and programs and highly recommends students attend and be prepared to speak with prospective employers.
“For some students, the fair is strictly informational but most are looking for [a career],” explained Erickson.
While he couldn’t give a specific number, Erickson said, “I do know that many students are hired based on the career fair, there’s no doubt about that.”
Erickson noted that while the Career Fair is mostly centered around full-time positions, there are opportunities for internships and other positions.
As of Feb. 8, just fewer than 40 employers were expected to attend.
“I really think that the career fair we provide is very high quality,” said Erickson.
“While we’d like everything to be bigger, who wouldn’t, right? I still think it’s a very high-quality, good fair for both employers and students.”
Employers at the fair will be mostly local or regional with some national companies and government agencies. Representatives attending the fair will range from company managers, to human resources representatives all the way to CEOs and presidents.
According to Erickson, student attendance at the career fair ranges year-to-year from 400 to 800 and averages about 500.
“And of course we would love more,” he added.
The key thing for students, according to Erickson, is preparation
“The more preparation they put into it the better chance they have of making a good impression and potentially getting that job,” he said.
Some employers at the fair will also do what Erickson called mini-interviews. Erickson said that is one of the reasons students need to really know themselves, have a verbal introduction and resume, dress professionally and be able to speak articulately to employers at the Career Fair.
“Go there knowing that you’re going to be talking about yourself, almost like a mini-interview,” recommended Erickson.
“We highly recommend that [students] come [to the career center] first and we can help them [with their resumes] and they can distribute those to employers they want to talk to,” said Erickson.
“That’s why we’re here,” he added. “We’re here to help students prepare if they need help with their resume or if they don’t know what to say to an employer—talk to us, we’ll help you with that.”
The Career Center has held presentations coinciding with “Be Week” this week to help students prepare for the Career Fair.
Monday, Feb. 11, a brief interviewing workshop was held in the Student Lounge in the Engineering Building at followed by a presentation on how to present yourself well on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at in the Business Administration Building. Both presentations were held at 12:30 p.m.
These presentations will continue Thursday, Feb. 14, with a workshop specifically for Career Fair preparation at 12:30 p.m. in the Heritage Room of the Student Union Building.
For more information about the Career Fair or to make an appointment to prepare, you can contact the ISU Career Center at (208) 282-2380 or visit http://www.isu.edu/career/.