The Career Center at Sacramento State held a workshop on Zoom Wednesday to prepare students for the school’s first virtual career fair.

The goal for this preparation workshop was to help students feel more confident and prepared for the upcoming virtual career fair being held Oct. 6-7, said employer relations coordinator Kate Lockwood, who hosted the event with Voun Sa, an employer relations specialist at Sac State. 

This is the first time Sac State will host a virtual career fair, Lockwood said. The career fair is for all majors and currently has over 50 employers registered, according to the fair’s registration page on Handshake.

Lockwood and Sa discussed virtual career fair tools and tips with the workshop’s 13 participants. The tips were broken up into three segments: before, during, and after the fair. 

Some of the tips Lockwood recommended were registering through Handshake, doing research on the organizations attending, and scheduling time to meet with them, as well as preparing a resume and pitch to use at the fair. 

Lockwood recommended that the day of the career fair, attendees find a quiet place that allows them to work without distractions so they can speak with company representatives, learn more about the job and possible internship opportunities. 

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Here’s a few tips you should keep in mind when preparing for the virtual career fair @TheStateHornet @sacstatecareer pic.twitter.com/ISNSy0A9Fi

— Brandon B. (@officiallilb4) September 30, 2020

Lastly, Lockwood encouraged students to follow up with representatives from the career fair and apply to the opportunities that were presented. 

Following the presentation by Lockwood, Sa gave a tutorial on how to properly use Handshake and its different features. Handshake is a website and app that helps students find career fairs and career opportunities, in addition to giving students the ability to chat one-on-one with employers related to their field of work. 

“Some of the group sessions might be more general whereas the one-on-one you can use that opportunity to sell yourself to the employer,” Sa said. 

Concepcion Morales, a business administration major, said he thought the workshop went well for him.

“I was a bit undecided if I should go to the career fair because it is virtual, but by going to this preparation workshop, it helped me become confident in attending the career fair,” Morales said via email. 

Some tips that he said stood out to him were to dress professionally despite attending virtually, updating your Handshake profile and having questions prepared beforehand.

Ashley Thaos, a computer science major, asked whether she should even consider going to the career fair since she is only a freshman.

“Career fairs are like anything,” Lockwood said. “The more you do them the better you get at them.” 

For more information about the career fair Oct. 6-7, email the Career Center at [email protected] or give them a call at 916-278-6231.