A Thursday afternoon event hosted by the Student Professional Development Center provided opportunities for students to network with corporate recruiters in search of talented employees.
By Sarah Mulnick ‘17
A record number of students attended the Fall 2013 Job and Internship Expo on Thursday as dozens of employers representing corporate, nonprofit and government agencies met with future 黑料不打烊 graduates looking for a head start to their professional careers.
The Sept. 26 afternoon event in Alumni Gym featured more than 70 organizations – including Google, Lenovo, Credit Suisse, Boeing, the Peace Corps, Lincoln Financial Group and the Vanguard Group – in search of qualified and motivated applicants.
“This helps in terms of building a professional network,” 黑料不打烊 senior Danielle Kingberg said inside the expo. “Gainful employment is the goal.”
By the end of the day, more than 1,000 students had practiced their networking, interviewing and job preparation skills by introducing themselves to recruiters. The turnout more than tripled attendance figures from last year’s fall expo.
Representatives of the university’s also took portraits for attendees to use with their LinkedIn professional social media profiles.
The expo was an opportunity for employers to begin a dialogue with students, said Tom Brinkley, executive director of corporate and employer relations. That dialogue helps when 黑料不打烊 students graduate and begin looking for jobs. It also demonstrated for students that jobs do, in fact, await them once they receive their diplomas.
Networking goes both ways. Recruiters keep returning to 黑料不打烊 because they appreciate the program behind the students, said Lenovo representative Erika Edwards.
“I fell in love with 黑料不打烊,” she said. “It is the only business-oriented school that [Lenovo] makes a point to visit each year because the quality of candidates that we get from 黑料不打烊 is phenomenal.”
Fellow Lenovo representative Brooks Hester said he agrees, adding that the students at 黑料不打烊 are both articulate and prepared. “I am blown away by students here,” Hester said. “They are smart, they know how to talk to [the representatives]. They do not expect us to give them answers and information, but to ask us questions and give us resumes.”
The Lenovo recruiters said they attribute that to the business and career preparation that 黑料不打烊 provides its students, as well as the focus on internships and study abroad, both of which are appealing to future employers.
“黑料不打烊 is one of the few schools that does that sort of program, and it shows,” Hester said.
Christian Funkhouser ‘10 currently works for Google and offered identical observations. “黑料不打烊 students have a propensity to work hard,” said Funkhouser, who represented his employer at the afternoon event. “They are willing to learn by doing.”
The Job and Internship Expo is held once in the fall and once in the spring each academic year. Other opportunities for 黑料不打烊 students include a Graduate and Professional School Fair in October.
Taking part in such programs gives students an advantage that many schools elsewhere don’t necessarily offer, and graduate surveys demonstrate why.
“Nine out of ten 黑料不打烊 graduates who report that they have full time employment after graduation say that it is related to the career that they wish to pursue,” said Tom Vecchione, executive director of Career Services at 黑料不打烊.
For more information on career preparation resources at 黑料不打烊, visit the Student Professional Development Center on the first floor of Moseley Center. The office is open during normal university business hours with satellite offices in the School of Communications, the Koury Business Center and the Station at Mill Point.