Helpful hints on how to be successful at Fall Career Fair

Ladies and Gentlemen, let us clear the air right now. On September 15, 2015 there will be a lot of mayhem, tears, and anxious students on the Colorado School of Mines campus due to the always popular event known as Career Day.

A quick background on Career Day for all the first year students who are unsure as to why all the Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors are sweating bullets and swearing about the appropriate font to use on a resume; Career Day happens twice in a school year–once in the Fall Semester and once in the Spring Semester.

The Fall Career Fair is the more popular event of the two because most students get internships or full-time positions during the Fall Fair. The event takes place at the Student Recreation Center, where over two hundred companies attend to their own separate booths, collect resumes, and talk to students all day.

The experience goes one of two ways: you either get a job or you do not. And, unless you are part of an unusually small minority here at Mines, you probably are hoping to get that phone call saying, “Congratulations! We want you to work at…” That is where I come in. I believe that I can help you get a job with a few quick tips! But there are a couple things that will happen on the big day no matter what I tell you:

1. People will judge you at the Career Fair. It sucks, but they are there to make sure they like you enough to let you into their company.
2. There is always some guy that will be disappointed in your GPA… nobody likes that guy but please, refrain from telling him that no one likes him.
3. It will smell…it will smell terribly. For those of you staying for more than one hour, I apologize and pray for your noses. But what can one expect when you put 1000 students in a gym and ask them to kindly fight for their futures?

Now that we covered that, here are some quick tips to stand out and impress recruiters! These will not solve all your problems, but they will offer some assistance to make the big day a lot less daunting.

1. Dress professional…and comfortable. If you spend half the day trying to keep your collar from choking you, there is a good chance that frustration will build up and distract you. Try your clothes on a few days before and determine which one is most comfortable and have it dry pressed. There are affordable dry cleaners close to campus!
2. PRACTICE YOUR PICK UP LINE! You do not want to be the 157th person to say, “Hi, my name is Mark and on my resume you can see that…” Trust me, we all know how amazing your elevator speech is…ours are just as good. But the way you start a conversation will be the thing that makes you different from the fifty other sweating bodies behind you.
3. BE CONFIDENT! You go to the Colorado School of Mines. Have the confidence to say that you are one of the best Engineers the Engineering world has to offer.
4. Remember: you survived this long without that job, you will be just fine if you do not get it this time around as well. Most of us are in the early part of our lives. There are a lot of experiences yet to be had, with or without a job.
5. SMILE. This is a great experience! Cherish the moment…and grab as much free swag as possible.

Overall, Career Day is one of the best experiences you will have at Mines. It is one of the best ways to get a job or just make connections with people in the industry you want to end up in. You have already done the tough work in the classroom, now it is time to show off your progress to the rest of the world! Get excited and go stink up the gym with your fellow colleagues! You are going to do fine.