The week of April 25 to 29 will be dedicated to helping Sacramento State students procure internships.

The events, which will end with the Fun in the Sun Fair, will take place in the University Union’s Forest Suite on the second floor. The fair, however, will take place in the Library Quad from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, April 29.

The fair will showcase over 40 of the area’s employers, such as Intel, Golden 1 Credit Union and the Sacramento Kings.

“Our main goal is to teach students the value and importance of internships,” said Candace McGee, the internship program manager for the Sacramento State Career Center. “Employers are not just looking for a degree. They also want to know what else students have done to prepare for a career, and internships are vital to becoming career ready.”

McGee also talked about the importance of students preparing for Internship Awareness Week and the internship fair.

“Students should bring something to take notes, and if there is an employer they are really interested in, they are more than welcome to bring their cover letters and resumes,” McGee said. “Students can come into the Career Center [in Lassen Hall 1013] between 9 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. to have their cover letters and resumes reviewed before Internship Awareness Week.”

Students are strongly encouraged to attend the event, McGee said. Those who do so have incentives to look forward to, besides the possibility of netting an internship.

“There will be prizes and ice cream for those who complete a quick questionnaire,” McGee said. “KSSU will provide music for the event.”

California career coaches Kolby Goodman and Karen Bodenhorn also stressed the importance of work experience such as internships, as well as other attributes, as vital to securing jobs after college.

“Employers are seeking college graduates that are effective communicators,” Bodenhorn said. “Graduates should be well-spoken and excellent writers … Work and volunteer experiences are also helpful.”

Goodman expanded upon Bodenhorn’s sentiments, emphasizing that recent as well as future college graduates must play up their uniqueness.

“Employers are looking for someone to stand out. With nearly 1.8 million new graduates in 2016 alone, employers need to be able to quickly and accurately process all of the applications,” Goodman said, via email. “The goal of all new graduates needs to be positive differentiation. Going above and beyond what is expected is key to getting noticed.”

Goodman advised students to take risks.

“Do not play it safe in your job search; take risks because not a lot of others are,” Goodman said.

Goodman’s final piece of advice concerned something most students do not pay mind to – LinkedIn.

“Create a LinkedIn profile and optimize it,” Goodman said. “Ninety-four percent of hiring managers stated they used LinkedIn to search for and research job candidates, but only 13 percent of all professionals aged 20-35 are actually active on the site.”