Yesterday was the Career Fair! So exciting.
 |
| Even this puppy is excited, and he doesn't need a job! Source |
The Career Fair is one of the great opportunities Tufts students have to meet potential employers on campus. It's an excellent first step towards finding the career that suits you - where else will you have 150 employers in the same room, waiting to meet and talk to you? No matter what point you're at in the career search, going to any Career Fair isn't something you'll regret.
As a senior, I look at the Career Fair through a special lens - that of an impending future. I feel a lot more pressure now to attend the fair and make connections at this point.
 |
| Each year I am becoming more and more like Squidward. Source |
Despite that pressure, I'm not going to let it intimidate me! This isn't my first Career Fair, and the right preparation will ensure that everything goes smoothly. This post will include some thoughts I had before attending the fair, and what I thought after.
PRE-FAIR THOUGHTS
- The Career Fair will include a good variety of employers, but I do know that the majority of them will be in the business, consulting, and science/technology fields, which I am not really interested in. There is only one law firm signed up for the fair, but that doesn't mean I'm out of luck!
- I can still take advantage of the fair by looking into employers who fall just outside my area of interest. This is especially true since I'm thinking about a gap year - many organizations that offer year-long experiences will be at the fair.
- A couple of places in particular have caught my eye - that being the one law firm (Paul Weiss) and year-long opportunities in education.
- I've done some research on the companies I'm interested in, and I've come up with some good questions to ask them.
UPDATE - POST-FAIR THOUGHTS
- The fair was very successful! As expected, most of the booths were outside of my field, but I still gained something from going.
- Doing an initial lap around the entire fair before speaking to anyone was helpful. I got a scope of all that was available to me, and I was able to note which booths I wanted to prioritize.
- At the fair I spoke to several organizations, including Paul Weiss (the law firm), City Year, Explo, and even Dropbox! It was great to see the array of opportunities.
- Paul Weiss offered some great information on a 2-year paralegal program they offer. They weren't accepting resumes at the fair, but I did sign up to be emailed when they start taking applications. (They also gave me a cool laundry bag!)
- City Year was another awesome booth I visited. I spoke to a Tufts alum who had reached out to me by email before the fair. She and her team members were very friendly and we had a great discussion about the work City Year does and how it relates to my interests. She even gave me a hand-out about City Year alums who transitioned into the legal field - glad to know I'm not the only one with that idea!
Overall, I was very pleased with my experience at the Career Fair. Even though the majority of booths didn't fall under my interests, the few that did were so worthwhile. Something to remember about Career Fairs is that the point isn't necessarily to visit as many booths as possible, but to make meaningful connections with potential employers. Quality over quantity!
Signing off (to write some thank you emails!),
Kelly Vieira
Class of 2015
