RIT Career Fair - Just Do It!

You may be one of the older attendees, you’ll have to fight the crowds and the weather, and parking is hard to find, but should you come to the RIT Career Fair as an alumnus/a?  Absolutely! 

 Benefits of attending the Career Fair include:

·         Potential job opportunities, either at the fair or future opportunities with companies to follow up on after the fair.

·         Connecting with targeted employers; establishing initial contact, and networking to find other company contact information for your specific field or desired job.

·         Networking, networking, networking – with targeted companies, with other companies, with other attendees; you never know who you will meet who might be able to help your search!

Tips for a successful fair experience:

·         Have realistic expectations; don’t expect to come away with a job, but try to gain information on the companies, and the right contacts for you to follow up.

·         Prepare your 60-second commercial (elevator speech) – your introduction that demonstrates your brand and career goals, and emphasizes why you’re a perfect candidate for this company.

·         Bring your professional (and reviewed) resume, and other marketing materials appropriate for your field.   Business cards are a great addition; you can even jot a quick thank you note and attach your business card and another copy of your resume, circle back around and leave on the company’s table after you’ve talked with them – that will ensure you’ll be remembered!

·         Research the attending companies, so that you can determine how and where you will fit in, and be able to demonstrate a perfect fit when you approach the recruiters.

·         Emphasize your skills – both those related to the job, and also the transferable skills you’ve developed from previous work and life experiences, even volunteer work.  For experienced alumni, remember you have a history of dedication, commitment and maturity that a new graduate doesn’t have – you have to be confident in your skills and abilities and the qualities you bring to a new company.

·         Send thank you notes to the contacts you meet and follow up after the fair. 

·         Don’t be discouraged if you meet with resistance or a seeming dead end; keep to your goals and collect all the information and contact names you can for future follow up.

Here are the specifics on our upcoming fair:

·         Wednesday, February 26^th, 11am-4pm, RIT Gordon Field House

·         Fair is open to RIT students and alumni only  - you need to bring an alumni ID (which you can get from the Registrar’s Office), or a resume with your RIT degree indicated

·         All majors/fields represented – check RIT Job Zone for a list of the 250+ companies attending

·         Interview day Thursday February 27^th – bring your calendar in case you’re scheduled for interviews

·         Parking is limited; there will be a shuttle bus for lots G and H

Here's a webinar that has more information on preparing for our, and other, career and job fairs - https://connect.rit.edu/p4cbl51p2ru/.

So if you’re in the Rochester area, plan to attend the fair; come with your resume, your positive attitude, your realistic goals, and your RIT “can-do” spirit!  If you can’t attend, or if you live out of the area, you can still participate by adding your resume to our online Alumni Resume Book in our Job Zone system.  This book will be available to all attending companies after the fair; when we offered this in the fall, we had an enthusiastic response from recruiters, who will have more time to review alumni resumes for a match to their needs after the event.

To participate, you must have an updated profile and an uploaded resume in Job Zone.  Here is the process for adding your resume to the resume book:

·         Update your profile and upload a resume in the documents section of Job Zone.  If you haven’t accessed Job Zone in a while, the system will prompt you to update your profile before you can proceed.

·         In the Documents section, you’ll see a tab for Opt-In Resume Book

·         In this section, you’ll see “select resume books” under each of your documents – click this for the resume you’d like to put into the book

·         In Target Opt-In Resume Book, click select, and select the book titled – Alumni Spring Career Fair 2014

·         Click Submit and your resume will be put into the book

·         *Note: if you haven’t accessed Job Zone in a while, it may take 24 hours after you update your profile before you can use the Opt In Resume Book feature

If you have questions or difficulties, just email me at kwsoce@rit.edu.   See you at the fair!