The fall brings slightly cooler weather, a new semester and opportunities for students to land career opportunities. Career Services advises students attend job fairs as many Bobcats in the past received internship and job offers by showing up prepared and looking sharp.
Fall career fairs will be large and frequent
According to Career Services’ calendar provided by Sam Heimbach, career advisor, there will be eight career fairs during the fall semester starting Sept. 20 with the All Majors Career Fair, the largest fair of the year. This fair is held in the LBJ Student Center ballroom for two days, and is highly recommended by Heimbach.
Career fairs come specialized
The fall semester will host the STEM, Mass Communications, Meet the Firms career fairs and more. Each of these fairs is specialized for specific fields and Majors. The Meet the Firms fair hosts businesses looking for future accountants, while the mass communications fair will be looking for future writers, public relations specialists and advertisers.
Students of all classifications and skill levels can benefit from attending career fairs
Madi Tabersmith, career advisor, said all students can benefit from attending a Texas State career fair.
“When students are in their earlier stages of college, career fairs give them practice at the basic level and teach them how to speak to employers. It can get them ready on how to speak about themselves and get over the nervousness which is kind of an obstacle for people. We recommend students come to a career fair early on,” Tabersmith said.
Students can benefit from going to career fairs during their first and second years of college because they will learn about companies they may want to work with in the future, and they will learn about what these businesses are looking for. Juniors and Seniors can benefit from attending careers fairs as they will earn the opportunity to network with recruiters, search for internships and even get interviewed right after in some cases. The teacher’s fair is especially known for interviewing and hiring same-day or next-day.
Career fairs must be prepped for
Heimbach said students should dress business professional, bring a resume and research companies before attending career fairs. To assist students with prepping stress-free, Career Services has an app called TX State Career Fair+, which is available in the App Store and the Google Play Store. The app will have a detailed map of the fair, information on each company and instructions on how to dress. The app requires no log in and is free to download.
“Students should be open minded. A lot of times opportunities might exist with companies you haven’t considered. Also, take your time and be patient with yourself. You have multiple hours at the career fair. Take your time and go at your own pace,” Heimbach said.
Texas State has unusually large fairs, and are more frequent than other schools
Heimbach and Tabersmith said Texas State has some of the largest collegiate career fairs in Texas. Heimbach also said that like all of Career Services’ offerings, the fairs are open to alumni.
“We want to get Bobcats jobs, whether they are students or alumni,” Heimbach said.