Getting their Foot in the Door

Ties knotted, shirts tucked in, hair neatly coiffed and with resumes in hand, a few hundred young job seekers lined up at Friendship Court and Corwin Pavilion Thursday morning to explore their prospects at the Winter Career Fair. Featuring recruiters from an array of industries, including retail, software, financial, military and engineering, the fair reached out to students of all majors. Participants took advantage of services offered, such as resume critiques and a LinkedIn photo booth to polish their online presence.

A large part of the turnout came from “Introduction to the Research University: Transfer Student Success,” a class for incoming juniors taught by Don Lubach, associate dean of students in the Division of Student Affairs. For him, there was no time like the present to get future professionals started on their careers.

“Walking into the maw of the career fair is terrifying for them because they’re just starting to think of their careers and are making adjustments to university life,” he said. For these students, it was probably their first time approaching big employers to present themselves as professional and competitive, despite their relative inexperience.

“My hope is that they didn’t get too worried about was wasn’t on their resumes, but now that they are versed in the skill of writing the resume they will then use this upcoming year to get experiences that they can then present to the employers next year,” said Lubach.