Why You Should Attend Career Fairs - Something Every College Student Should Do

All throughout your college career, you most likely were told by your career counselor that you should be attending as many career fairs as possible. Although this sounds like good advice, the reality is that many college students and recent graduates have never attended a fair. These are great places to really advance your career and even make great contacts for the future. The main reason why every college student and recent college graduate should attend these is because of all the opportunities they will find. Most students these days look online for their jobs. Although this is great, there still are many companies that do not post jobs online. By not attending job fairs, you could be missing out on your dream job opportunity.

Another reason why career fairs are great experiences for college students and graduates is because it gives you somewhat of an exposure into the real world. Although you are not attending work with these companies, you are given insight into how demanding the job force is right now. It actually can motivate you to find a job because you will see all the competition. Many college students just assume that they will find a job eventually. While this might be true for the lucky ones, the reality of it is that you will not just be handed a job at your graduation. You need to see for yourself that work actually is required to find a job.

Attending job fairs also is a great idea because you are able to make an impression with the company. When you simply e-mail or mail in your resume and cover letter, odds are it will look exactly like all the other resumes they have received for the same job. If you go to a career fair, you are given the opportunity to speak with one of the hiring agents. Even if you get just five minutes of one-on-one time with them, that is more than you would have had sitting at home. Those five minutes could make a lasting impression - enough that you get a call back interview.

A great idea to do is to try to attend career fairs while you still are in college. The reason for this is because you will gain the experience you need to master making great first impressions. This could eliminate the time after your graduation before you get a job. You might even impress a company so much because you took the initiative to attend a career fair before you graduated that they might hire you as an intern or remember you and therefore grant you a job when you graduate.