Networking is the single most important aspect of job hunting. The first strategy the employers use to fill a vacancy is to consider the people they worked with or they know in a professional capacity. Approximately 70-80% of all jobs are found by networking. Start building your professional contacts as a student to have an active network when you are in the midst of a job search. Please, click on the links below to learn more about networking:
Networking
Attending Conferences
Conferences are what you make of them. If you’re not sure why you’re going, or what you want to get out of the experience, you’re unlikely to benefit from the experience. Professional events such as conferences can be overwhelming. You want to be prepared, go in with a plan, network with your peers, learn about recent developments in your field, and have a good time. Click on the link below for more guidelines on what to do when you attend conferences.
Career Fair Guidelines
The Career Development Center has broken away from the traditional career fair and has implemented industry specific career fairs. This allows more students with specific interests to meet one-on-one with employers in their desired field. The emphasis is on networking: making good impressions and developing contacts that will hopefully lead to formal job interviews.
The primary benefits of attending career fairs are to:
- Make initial contacts for employment.
- Ask about the possibility of internships, and full-time/part-time jobs in your areas of interest.
- Ask questions about the job market for fields in which you are interested.