Career Fairs
Career fairs are an excellent way for students to engage directly with employers. We host three seasonal job fairs, as well as an array of industry focused or boutique offerings.
Fall 2020 Fair Schedule
-
Fall Career Fair BASH - September 30, 2020
12pm-4pm (Pacific Time)
This will be a virtual fair using the Handshake platform.
This event is targeted toward students majoring in: Business, Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities. -
STEM Career Fair - October 14, 2020
12pm-4pm (Pacific Time)
This will be a virtual fair using the Handshake platform.
This event is targeted towards students in the disciplines of: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.
Dates and logistics of additional Career Fairs for the 2020-2021 academic year are still being developed and will be published when further information is available.
Employers with any questions about career fairs or recruiting at SCU should direct their questions to scuemployers@scu.edu.
How to Make the Most out of a Career Fair.
What to do before, during, and after the big event.
Prepare
- Check your Handshake account to know what companies are coming to the fair, what positions they are hiring for at this time, and then decide and prioritize who you want to meet based on your interests and the company research you do.
- Research the companies you are interested in connecting with by visiting their website and LinkedIn page. Consider reaching out to alumni that work at your companies of interest to conduct informational interviews and learn more.
- Update your resume and have 20 printed and ready to go. You may have more than one version, depending on your interests.
- Develop a 30-second introduction (elevator speech) to introduce yourself and practice brief answers to questions from employers regarding your career goals and how you fit with their opportunities and company.
- In addition to being ready to answer their questions, be ready with a few of your own, specific to the company and the positions.
- Plan to dress professionally.
What to expect at the fair
- Arrive early so you can review the fair directory and locations of the companies you want to visit (typically they are in alphabetical order).
- You are ready… Having defined your goals, completed research on the company and the positions you are interested in, knowing how your skills fit with the opportunities available, and having some questions of your own, you can be confident that you are ready to meet the employers!
Etiquette
- Expect the fair to be crowded, so being respectful to your classmates as well as the employers is of utmost importance. You may have to stand in line and wait for your opportunity to talk with the employer and then know that your time is limited with them.
- Know when it is time to move on. Keep it short if there are other students waiting. Close the conversation with “It’s been nice meeting you” or something similar.
- Ask the employer for a way to contact them so that you can follow up with at a later time. Some employers will provide a contact and some may not.
- Take time after meeting each employer to quickly jot down who you met and briefly what you talked about. This will help you with the follow-up.
Follow-up
- Write a thank you note to those employers who provided you with contact information. If they provided someone different to follow-up with, make sure you follow-up with that person as well, letting them know how you received their information.
- Set up a system (eg: Excel) to keep track of follow-up activities, starting with the Career Fair date and your thank-you note.
Check out this video of our Career Fair Prep Lab for key tips and strategies
Didn’t find what you are looking for at the career fair or just not sure what type of opportunities you are interested in?
- Make an appointment at the Career Center to develop your job search strategy
