Making the most of the Job Fair
February 14, 2001
The Sacramento State Career Center will host the Spring Job Fair, which is open to all students and alumni, with more than 120 employers ready to hold interviews.
The focus of the Job Fair is on part-time jobs, internships, seasonal and volunteer work. This is a good opportunity for students who are interested in gaining work experience in their majors.
Carol Leigh Billing, career events specialist, suggests that students should first go to the Web sites of the employers they are interested in and find out any information they may need to prepare themselves to ask the right questions.
The Career Center?s Web site, www.csus.edu/careercenter/careerfairs.htm, has a list of the employers with links to their Web sites for students to do their homework on prospective employers.
“Have an idea of what you’re looking for and do your homework on the Web sites so you know where to go to at the Job Fair instead of getting caught up in the commotion of it,” Billing said.
The Career Center also has a series of workshops to prepare students for this Job Fair or any employment opportunities. The most common workshop for students is how to create resumes.
Various employers that will be present at the Job Fair range from health professions to industrial and technology oriented positions.
Families First, an organization that works with families and children, will be attending the Job Fair. They have residential counselors and teaching assistant positions available.
Students interested in a job with Families First need to have completed 60 units in a natural health area such as social work, education, sociology or psychology.
“They should have experience in working with children in various ways either in day care or group homes,” said Paula Godwin, recruiter for Families First.
Students looking for experience in the industrial field may be interested in Frito Lays? positions of entry level managers and operations managers.
“We look for leadership skills, experience in managing people and any extra curricular activities, but from any field,” said Heidi Zuber, human resources manager for Frito Lays.
E*TRADE will have on-campus interviews for entry-level software engineers, financial services and internships.
Recruiters will be providing flyers, paperwork and business cards so that one will be able to follow up on the job later. With the business card, a clean resume can be sent to the employer. By doing this, another resume can be sent to the employer in case some get lost, torn or folded in any process of the Job Fair.
At the Job Fair, recruiters will provide information to people about their company so that they can create an identity and build awareness for them.
Because of this, when one sets out to get a summer job, they will be able to know the company, the types of jobs available and any other information that the recruiters provided.
The Career Center has hosted over 10 job fairs and has become very successful. This year the Job Fair was so big that 30 companies had to be turned away. Because of this, the upcoming Spring Career Fair in April will be held for two days, instead of one. Over 1,500 people attended the Fall Career Fair in October and The Career Center estimates even more people will be frequenting the upcoming Job Fair.
Students can find further information on all employers that will be attending the Job Fair in The Career Center.