Briefly speaking: Making the most of career fairs

Is your student overwhelmed by the thought of looking for work in this tough economy? UC Davis wants to ease that burden by bringing the employers to them.

Campus career counselors anticipate that representatives of more than 100 companies and between 1,500 and 2,000 students will attend each of the winter and spring Internship and Career Fairs. The events, Feb. 17 and April 22, run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the ARC Pavilion.

Marcie Kirk-Holland, project manager for the Internship and Career Center, said staff members are optimistic about the opportunities at both fairs.

Who is at the fairs?

"Though the downturn in the economy certainly has an impact on the number of firms that are hiring, ICC staff have used their industry expertise and tenacity to bolster the number of employers that attend our fairs," she said.

This month's fair draws many firms in the biological sciences and agriculture, Kirk-Holland said. "However, we remind students that organizations like Bayer, Campbell's Soup, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Smucker's, Pepsi and Rominger West Winery have employees that work in all aspects of their operations."

Firms at the winter fair are looking to hire recent or upcoming graduates, especially those with specialized technical skills. The spring fair is a more general internship and career fair, attracting firms that are ready to hire people to start in July or August or work summer internships.

"In this economy, fewer companies are making job offers in January to June grads that often do not begin work until August," Kirk-Holland said.

Get a head start

So what's the most important advice she can give students about career fairs these days?

"Go!" she said. "Odds are 100 percent that students will not make a connection that results in a job or internship promoted at the fair if they do not go."

Also, do your homework, she urged. Study the list of companies to discover which ones have opportunities that suit you.

"From our list, they can click on a company to learn which positions they are recruiting for, and visit the firm's Web site," she said. "Our Aggie Job Link system even allows our students to RSVP, and send their resume to a company contact in advance of the fair," Kirk-Holland said.

Students can watch the center's Web presentation about making the most of career fairs. The Internship and Career Center offers many other resources for students and recent alumni, such as career counseling and resume-writing clinics.