By Brittney Coulter
Reporter
Students in the market for an internship or post-graduation job can potentially find employment at Baylor Career Services’ STEM Job Fair, Thursday from 1 to 4 p.m. on the fifth floor of the Cashion Academic Center. This is the first successful year to hold the fair in the last two years due to the previous state of the economy.
Short for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the STEM Job Fair, will give students and alumni a chance to meet with company recruiters offering jobs from these respective areas.
“It’s a great opportunity to network with a room full of recruiters,” said Carolyn Mushka, associate director of career services. “You may not have the opportunity to do that somewhere else.”
According to the career services website, job fairs provide students with the opportunity to “learn about their opportunities, gather information you can use when applying for jobs and find out about next steps in the process.”
Mushka said the job fair can benefit students from all academic backgrounds, not just those from the areas represented at the fair.
“Even if you see that maybe they’re not looking for your major, you can still talk with them about different opportunities,” Mushka said.
So far, 30 companies have committed to attend the fair. Recruiters will be in attendance from companies such as Anadarko, AT&T, the FBI, SpaceX and National Instruments.
Donna Sparks, assistant director of career services, said job fairs can open the door to opportunities that may have previously not been considered.
“Campus Crusade for Christ is going to be at the STEM fair looking for computer programmers,” Sparks said. “Most people think of Campus Crusade for Christ as a more missions-based kind of thing, but they need people to program their website and things like that too.”
Sparks also said job fairs give students the opportunity to represent themselves face-to-face aside from simply submitting a resume.
“Any time you feel like you would do a much better job representing yourself in person rather than on paper, it’s absolutely a good idea to go to a job fair,” Sparks said.
Mushka and Sparks said that preparation is essential for success at the fair. Among the things students should do to prepare is research the companies listed to attend.
“There is a list of them that [students] can find by going to our website: HireABear.com,” Mushka said. “Pick out the top three to five that you’re interested in, look at their website and learn about what they’re doing and what they might be here recruiting for.”
Students should also plan out their visit in advance to make efficient use of their time at the fair.
“Map out a plan for who you want to see because a lot of times you don’t have enough time to talk to everybody,” Sparks said. “You really want to be intentional so that you make it to your key prospects.”
Mushka also recommends that students bring multiple copies of resumes printed on high quality bond paper and be prepared to present themselves efficiently using what she refers to as a “one minute commercial” that gives recruiters pertinent information such as majors, areas of interest and career goals.
Students are highly encouraged to attend the fair regardless of where they are in their college careers.
“Don’t miss the opportunity to attend,” Mushka said. “Too many times we hear from students that are graduating or from alumni that they wish they would have taken advantage of this.”
The STEM Job Fair is just one of many job fairs offered throughout the year. Students can visit Career Services in the Paul L. Foster Success Center in the Sid Richardson Building for more information on upcoming fairs as well as more information on how to prepare for them.
Professional dress and a student ID are required to enter the fair.
