SEAS Students Prepare for Career Fair with Advice from Peers, Career & Professional Development Office
Students squeezed into HK 123 for IEEE's first career-themed event of the academic year, an advice session on preparing for next week's two GU career fairs.
Karen Franks-Harding from Career & Professional Development began the lunchtime meeting with an overview of her office's services, especially resume reviews. She reminded students of several career-based events taking place soon, such as next week's Mock Interviews, the All-Majors Career Fair, SEAS Career Fair. She also explained how the Career Treks trips are excellent networking opportunities with Gonzaga alums.
IEEE officers followed with some advice from their own internship searches. With a nod to the Electrical and Electronics Engineers their professional organization serves, they paid special attention to the businesses attending the SEAS Career Fair that offers positions in those fields.
Soon the students were invited to join a small group discussion. Arthur Lane ('19, EE) led a group on resume dos and don'ts. Erik Ratchford ('21, CpE) answered questions about LinkedIn, the social media tool used frequently by businesses to get more information about potential hires. Jeff Varness ('19 EE) shared the importance of learning about a company before approaching them for an internship or job, ways to go about doing that, and how to show that someone's done that research. Crystal Murray-Weston ('18, EE) gave ideas on how to interact with recruiters, including body posture and feeling less awkward.
Karen Harding-Franks tells students about scheduling Career & Professional Development appointments through Handshake.
Students broke into small groups to share information about researching companies before the Career Fair and using LinkedIn to their advantage.
Crystal Murray-Weston ('18, EE) gives examples of how students should talk to recruiters at the upcoming Career Fair.
IEEE Officer Arthur Lane ('18, EE) points out some of the things employers look for on resumes.