Students look for careers at NIU’s Full-Time Job Fair Wednesday
The main floor was filled with recruiting tables and business posters along with the upper level ‘ring’ around the Convocation Center on Wednesday. Several of the recruiters present are NIU alumni, and were bringing the business world full cirlce to current NIU students. The Job Fair this fall hosted more employers and students than ever before, showing promise of job growth in the area.
October 24, 2012
Students put on their nicest business clothes and brought out their resumes Wednesday in hopes of finding a full-time job.
Senior management major Erid Herrera joined dozens of other students at the Convocation Center for NIU’s Full-Time Job Fair to find a job for after graduation.
“There are a lot of opportunities as more and more companies are growing…as the economy recovers slowly but surely,” Herrera said.
Mary Myers, Career Services’ director of campus and employer relations, said this year’s fair attracted 190 employers, a twenty percent increase from last year’s 150.
Brandon Lagana, Career Services’ director of marketing and information resource management, said there are many alumni who made the job fair possible.
“This is the first year in a couple years we’ve been able to make use of the basketball court,” Lagana said. “That’s testimony that more employers are hiring than the year before and it adds a level of excitement for participants.”
The fair featured observational tours for first-time fair attendees and students new to job searches. Tour participants went around the top level of the Convocation Center and observed different things, like the body language of the people looking for jobs and the way the applicants approach the booths.
Lagana said many employers want to see how well an applicant understands what their company does. For retail businesses, it is also important to understand that there is more to their world than what is seen on the surface and be able to represent the company well, he said.
Shaggy Patel, a senior university recruiter for technology sales company CDW, said strong communication skills, drive and knowledge of the company are important.
“I think students should research the company and have a keen sense of what they are looking for,” Patel said. “They shouldn’t come in and say they’re looking for anything or any position.”
Lagana said being able to tell employers what makes an applicant special is vital, as is following up with an email thanking the employer for their time.
“Events like this are networking events,” Lagana said. “The employer and the student now have a face and a name and a relationship begins to develop.”