<p>I'm a freshman And there's this Chemical Engineering career fair tomorrow that I'm attending. It's my first one so I don't Know exactly how it works, can someone run me through how they work please? Like when I go up to one of the companies what should I do? Ask qs and how do I get my resume to them?</p>
<p>you should do some research on the companies that you want to talk to. You need a short 15-30 second blurb to introduce yourself…</p>
<p>Hi, I am Abcd3f3, I’m a freshman chemical engineering student and I saw on your website that you are looking for interns. I’m really interested in blah blah blah and I think I would be a good fit, here is my resume <em>give them your resume</em>. I was wondering if you could tell me more about blah blah blah (something you saw on the website).</p>
<p>It’s always good to have a question or two. Otherwise you can be like “hi… I’m looking for an internship, here’s my resume” and then awkward silence or you just kinda wander away.</p>
<p>Alternatively, if you aren’t looking for an internship for this summer, you can go with questions about potential internship programs or what kind of entry-level hiring they do, but the representatives from the various companies will probably be more interested in people that are interested in working there, rather than just looking for information.</p>
<p>Obviously, take a bunch of copies of your resume. Feel free to ask for a business card if you clicked with someone (or even if you didn’t). Take a pen! and something to write on.</p>
<p>How effective are career fairs?</p>
<p>Soccerguy, we usually agree about things, but I would approach a career fair differently - especially as a freshman. I would absolutely have the elevator speech, but I would wait until after getting more information to say anything about wanting the job. It’d be more of a “I’ve heard of you guys, but you obviously know more than I do, so tell me.” … “Great, now I know more! Here’s my resume… please remember me!”</p>
<p>As I said in another thread, career fairs are all about networking, especially at college campuses. Often, the people who you talk to aren’t going to be recruiters. They’ll be people who graduated from your school two years ago and started working for the company shortly thereafter. They will be able to talk about the jobs that have openings, but they won’t really make a difference in hiring decisions. That said, if you make a terrific impression, the 23-year-old who you talked to might go to the hiring manager and say, “Look out for Johnny Appleseed’s resume. Our conversation made me think he would be a great fit for us.” When the hiring manager is looking through 200 resumes and trying to give out interviews to 25 people, stuff like that could be the difference between getting an interview and not getting an interview.</p>
<p>Now, as a freshman, your expectations should be different. You probably won’t get any jobs out of this because companies rarely hire rising sophomores as interns (some exceptions but that’s a general rule). What you can get out of it is a network. If someone tells you that they’re only looking for juniors, say that you are aware but want to learn more anyway. Take everyone’s business card. Follow up with everyone who you liked. Maybe you won’t be helped this year, but if you get a recruiter’s business card and have been corresponding with her for two years, you are HIGHLY likely to get an interview when it comes time.</p>
<p>… I can support that rearrangement =P</p>