The career fair is over — Joyce’s Career Tip of the Week

For the past month and a half, I’ve been writing about what to do to prepare for career fairs. For those of you who attended one of the events, there are a few things you need to do after.

Most likely, you were told to “apply online.” This is not a brush off! It is essential that you do that in order to move forward. Companies need to be compliant with the laws and rules that apply to their hiring processes.

Send thank you emails to the companies that you are most interested in. Thank them for attending the career fair and let them know that you’ve applied and are looking forward to interviewing with them.

If you were given a business card and were asked to follow up or keep in touch, by all means, do that! Due to the large volume of students recruiters meet, they are very selective about giving out business cards and asking for follow up. If you were given one, you made a great impression!

You might have spoken to company reps who will be interviewing later this semester. Apply through Sun Devil CareerLink and company web pages, if applicable. Be sure to pay attention to application deadlines.

It’s important for all of you to know that attending career fairs is not the only thing you should be doing to find an internship or a job.

Career fairs typically represent the beginning of campus recruiting season. Continue to check Sun Devil CareerLink a minimum of once per week for upcoming opportunities. Follow companies on LinkedIn. Use LinkedIn to make connections with recruiters and professionals in the organizations that interest you. Read Inner Circle, the emails and newsletters you get from various people on campus. Take advantage of all opportunities to connect with recruiters — especially company information sessions.

Set a bit of time aside to evaluate where you are in your search for an internship or a job. Has your list of top companies changed or remained the same? Do you have to make changes to your résumé? Mark deadlines on your calendar. The most important thing is to keep the activity going!

 

Joyce Donahue is a career counselor in the Fulton Schools Career Center. She is a nationally certified career counselor and hold “Master Career Counselor” membership status in the National Career Development Association.