Tips For A Successful Career Fair

Alverno will host its Fall 2011 Career Fair on Wednesday, October 19th from 11:30am-2pm in the Teaching, Learning and Technology Center (TLTC). The Career Fair provides students and recent alumnae with the opportunity to meet employers currently hiring for jobs (part-time/full-time) and internships. Getting face-time with potential employers is an important part of the job/internship search process, and it's essential to create a positive and lasting impression. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of the Fall Career Fair and make a strong impression:

• Come prepared. Before the fair, review the list of attending employers at alverno.edu/career and identify the companies with whom you want to connect. Spend time researching these companies so that you can ask focused and specific questions.
• Dress Appropriately. First impressions are important, so dress professionally. If possible, wear a suit. If you don’t have one, dress slacks and a dress shirt are appropriate. Avoid wearing jeans, sweats, t-shirts, and athletic shoes. Demonstrate your respect for yourself as a burgeoning professional.
• Bring Copies of Your Resume to submit to employers. Not all employers will accept your resume at the fair, but it is best to be prepared. If you’ve never written a resume or you’d like to improve your existing one, schedule an appointment in the Career Education Center by calling (414) 382-6010. Resume Critique walk-in hours are also available Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:00 – 6:00 pm, and WEC Saturdays from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm in the Career Education Center (LA 125).
• Allow Yourself Adequate Time. Come as early as possible. Typically, fairs are less crowded in the early hours, and are busiest during the lunch hour and at the end. In addition, many other students may be interested in the same employers as you, so assume that you will need to wait to speak with some employers.
• Get Your Bearings. When you arrive, take a few minutes to review the directory for the fair. You can increase your comfort level if you locate and walk by the employers with whom you’re most interested.
• Practice Introducing Yourself. Prepare a short “commercial” that you can use as you introduce yourself to recruiters. Use the Eight Abilities as a framework to articulate your accomplishments.
• Take Notes when you inquire about next steps and the possibility of talking with additional managers. The recruiter at the fair may not be able to answer all of your questions, so write down the names and contact information of other staff in the organization, who you can contact later.
• Ask the Recruiter for His/Her Business Card, and send a thank-you note or email within 24 hours of the fair. Having the business card of the recruiter will provide you with a contact at the organization, including the proper spelling of the recruiter’s name and direct contact information. Sending a thank-you note acknowledges the time and information the recruiter gave you, and is a mature and professional habit to develop.
• Be Courteous! In addition to representing yourself, you’re also representing Alverno College.

Email Communication Etiquette

As a college student, you are developing and demonstrating professional skills and behaviors that you will use to be successful in the "real world," after graduation. One important skill that you can practice now is professional email etiquette, which is important to ensure that:  1) you are effectively communicating, and 2) you are protecting your professional reputation. When emailing instructors, classmates and members in the community, make sure to do the following:

• Fill in the subject line with a clear statement of the purpose for your e-mail.  “Help,” “My assignment,” or “Class 2” are weak subject headers.
• Always begin an email by addressing its recipient (“Dr. Reed,” “Sr. Celestine,” or “Tom”)
• Remind the recipient who you are and how you know each other (“I am a student in Section 4 of your PPS-129 class on Thursday afternoons”)
• Write your message in complete sentences with proper spelling and grammar.  Do not use texting abbreviations, such a TIA or PLMK, because your reader may not be able to interpret these.
• If you need a response to your email, say so in the text. 
• Problem solve. If you are emailing about a missed class, late homework, difficulty with course content, etc., state what you have done/will do, and what you are seeking from the faculty. 

              Poor:   “I am not going to be in class tonight.  
                         Let me know what I need to do to make up for missing class.”

              Better:  “I am ill and unable to attend class tonight. I will post the assignment 
                         that is due via Moodle and call you next week to discuss the 
                         information I missed.”

• Close your message with your full name and a phone number. Your instructor may have more than one Jenny in class.
• Give faculty/staff at least 24 hours to respond. Teaching schedules, committee activities, student meetings, research and a variety of other duties take people away from their computers for large parts of the work day. DO NOT send emails saying “I sent you an email this morning and haven’t heard from you.”

Making the Most of Your Summer Break (Part 3 of 3)

The previous two Career Corner posts discussed the importance of interviewing professionals in career fields that interest you, as well as volunteering with organizations that will help you obtain experience in those fields. A third way to make smart careering choices this summer is:

SECURE A JOB THAT WILL ALLOW YOU TO BUILD SKILLS REQUIRED FOR YOUR FUTURE CAREER.

In the Career Center, I regularly meet with students who are searching for part-time employment. When I ask them what type of position they are seeking, the most common answer I hear is “anything.” This “any job will do” approach is not an effective strategy if you’d like to be employed in your field of interest, after graduation. Be strategic about what jobs you devote your time toward. You’re not going to gain the skills you need to be a nurse, teacher, counselor, or accountant by folding sweaters or stocking shelves.

So how do you secure a summer job that will allow you to build the skills you’ll need for your future career?

• If you haven’t already done so, the first thing you need to do is begin to clarify your career goals. It is important to identify the types of occupations you’d like to pursue after graduation, in order to identify the skills you most need to develop now. For help with this, schedule an appointment in the Career Center (414-382-6010).
• If you’ve followed the advice in the first part of this series and have started interviewing professionals in the field, ask people already working in careers that interest you how you can best prepare for those positions.
• Use your campus resources. Ask your instructors for suggestions of summer opportunities in their discipline. Talk to classmates in your major about how they plan to spend their summer.
• Research. Are there career websites for the industry that you’re interested in? If so, check out the student or career development pages and ask other site visitors for suggestions on the message boards.
• A particularly helpful strategy is to target employers for whom you’d like to work after graduation. At every Alverno career fair, recruiters tell me that they seek to hire from WITHIN their organizations, before considering external applicants. So, if you’d like to be a nurse for a particular healthcare system, apply to be a registration representative or transport assistant at one of its hospitals in your area. If you’d like to work as a teacher, pursue a summer job with the recreation department for a nearby school district.

Though improving, it is a challenging job market, right now. Give yourself an edge over the competition by developing the right skills and experience, now, to bridge the gap between being a student and being a professional.

Making the Most of Your Summer Break (Part 2 of 3)

The last post in this series discussed the importance of engaging in career-related activities during summer break, and outlined how to begin talking to and shadowing professionals in career fields that interest you. Now that you know how to connect with professionals, it opens the door to the second way you can work toward your professional goals over summer break:

VOLUNTEER FOR AN ORGANIZATION THAT WILL ALLOW YOU TO GAIN EXPERIENCE IN A CAREER FIELD OF INTEREST.

Are you a nursing student who’s never worked in healthcare? Are you a Sociology major with a desire to help at-risk youth, yet you have no experience with youth organizations? In order to get an internship or job in your field of interest, you need to gain necessary skills and experience, and you can’t always do that in the classroom. Firsthand experience in a real-world setting can help verify that you’re on the right career path, and allow you to begin honing your professional skills.

When seeking a volunteer opportunity, be strategic. Seek out organizations and positions that will help you obtain experience related to your future occupation. It’s easy to do at sites like the Volunteer Center of Greater Milwaukee or VolunteerMatch.org, which allow you to search for volunteer opportunities based on the population you want to help and the skills you want to use. You can also target potential employers. If there’s an organization you’d like to someday work for, check out their website and see if they have volunteer positions. If they don’t, contact the organization, and ask if you could volunteer your time in a specific department. Alverno also publishes an annual Volunteer Guide, with some great tips on how to identify and pursue volunteer opportunities.

Even though you won’t be paid for the work that you do as a volunteer, the work is important, so treat the experience just as you would a job. Make sure that you adhere to basic professional etiquette:  show up consistently and on-time, dress appropriately, and give your full attention to the work that you’re doing (e.g. no personal texting or Facebooking during your assigned volunteer hours). Create a positive and lasting impression about who you are, as a budding professional.

Finally, take advantage of all the great networking opportunities that go along with volunteering. Get to know the professional staff, and ask them for advice on how to prepare for a career in their field. Don't just relegate yourself to the department you're assigned to, either; introduce yourself to staff in other departments, and ask if you can discuss the work that they do over lunch. Chat with other volunteers, who may have connections at organizations you'd like to intern at or work for in the future. Remember that every interaction with a professional is a networking opportunity!

For Tip #3, come back next week!

Making the Most of Your Summer Break (Part 1 of 3)

Summer’s just around the corner; have you thought about how you plan to spend it? Perhaps you’re going to take a summer class, study abroad, work a part-time job, or visit with friends and family. Whatever your plans, make sure that you take some time to work towards your career goals. There are many ways that you can do this. Here is one suggestion:

TALK TO AND SHADOW PROFESSIONALS IN CAREER FIELDS THAT INTEREST YOU.

If you are still undecided about your career path, or know little about your intended field, summer is a great time to do some research. You won’t do this research in a library, however; the best sources of information about a career field are the professionals currently working in it.

So how do you find these professionals? It’s easier than you think. To identify professionals with whom you can connect, let EVERYONE (your classmates, friends from high school, relatives, co-workers, etc.) know who you’d like to connect with (Ex: update your Facebook status to read “Looking to interview/shadow a physical therapist over summer break. Anyone know a practicing physical therapist in the Milwaukee area?). You could also ask your instructors if they know anyone working in your field, who would be open to talking to you about their profession. Put your computer savvy to work and research nearby organizations that employ professionals in your field. Check their websites for employee names and contact information.

Then what? Well, once you’ve identified professionals with whom you can connect, contact them and graciously ask if you could conduct an informational interview with them, to learn more about their field and how they got started in it. Prepare a list of questions to ask ahead of time, such as: What level of education is required for your position? What do you do in a typical work day? What are the pros and cons of your job? What advice would you give to someone entering your field? What makes a candidate stand out in an interview? Once you’ve made contact with a professional in the field, ask about the possibility of job shadowing. This may not be possible for all industries, but it never hurts to ask.

If you're able to locate a professional with whom you can shadow, take some time to prepare for the experience. You will want to make a good impression at the job site, so be sure to check out the dress code before arriving. If you have been corresponding with your job shadow, don’t hesitate to ask about appropriate dress code for your visit. Job shadowing is similar to informational interviewing, so preparing a list of additional questions beforehand will help you get the most out of the experience. Once the shadowing experience is over, be sure to immediately send out a thank you note that highlights what you enjoyed most and that expresses your gratitude for the time and effort the job shadow sponsor took out of his/her busy day.

Your contact with your job shadow shouldn't end there, though. Make an effort to stay in touch with your new industry contact. Send an email once or twice a year, to update him/her on your academic and professional progress. You could even invite your new contact out for coffee or lunch, to ask any new questions that arise, as you seek out internship and job opportunities.

For Tip #2, come back next week!