Oh geez, I am exhausted. I am beat. I didn’t think I was going to be this tired afterwards, but damn! It’s been about four hours since I got back and I am still a little sore.
Today was UMBC’s Career Fair. It was brutal, but I think my overall experience was positive. And I only say brutal in that there was a lot to see and do—I didn’t think it was gong to be that intense.
Yesterday, I actually went to the Career Center on campus and had them do a critique of my resume. I am REALLY glad I did it. I wasn’t all that confident in my resume to begin with and I had no idea how to build on it; but they really did have some positive stuff to say about it. The biggest help though was their resume writing page on their site, especially the workshop. My old resume looks so dinky compared to the monster that I have now. hehehe. But I think the best thing I really got out of it was creating my objective. When they helped me come up with one, it really stuck with me and I focused on that throughout my day at the fair.
So back to today. With my new and improved resume, wearing my traditional business attire (blue shirt, tie, black slacks), I was psyched and confident to hit the career fair; and that mood stuck with me throughout the whole time. How were the companies? Actually, to my surprise, the big ones that I initially were interested in didn’t give me the impression that they were really actively looking for new employees. It was the smaller, local ones that really won me over. It’s because they had this passion in their voices when they talked about their company… and they showed more intense, sincere interest in me.
An interesting, but positive, reaction that I got a lot was when I answered when my ‘expected date of graduation’ was. Right when I said that I finished last year, they had this surprised look on their faces: a little bit of that “wow I didn’t expect to see someone like you” mixed in with “oooh I’m really glad to see someone like you” look. 
Another cool thing about the fair was the free stuff! A lot of the companies had giveaways, I guess to attract people to their booths. Let’s go through the haul: 7 pens, stress ball, foldable frisbee thing, 2 key lanyards, sudoku video game keychain, ruler with built-in calculator, mini desk light, mini binoculars, mousepad, cap, bag, and assorted mints and candies. I later found out that Xerox was actually handing out USB drives… dammit! lol I regret not just hitting every booth, no matter what field they were in, and just grabbed the free stuff. I was just so tired, but I also had ran out of resumes to give out. So, to those reading this and going to job fairs: bring LOTS AND LOTS of resumes! I mean it!
I am REALLY REALLY REALLY hoping to hear from some of the companies that said they were going to contact me this weak. And I hope I can get some interviews lined up by next week. I have been getting more and more excited about taking time to do traveling now that I have the time and money.
Okay, so for future reference (hopefully not for me, but maybe as tips for others):
- Bring a LOT of resumes. You should be able to obtain a list of the companies attending, so make sure to print at least 50-75% the number. You just never know what you will find there! And make sure to have it critiqued by someone.
- Bring a backpack or messenger bag. Something to carry the free stuff!
- Bring a folder to hold all the fliers, papers, and cards you will be collecting.
- Here’s something I didn’t do, but I REALLY wish I did: right after you talk to one of the company reps, whip out a notebook, write down the name of the company and what follow-up actions you need to do. I am confident that most of the people I talked to will be contacting me, but a couple had wanted me to look at their site and apply online rather than them taking the resume I gave them and using that to match me to something they might have. Kind of a pain.
- Bring a friend. I was lucky enough to have one come with me who helped keep me positive throughout the whole thing.
- Don’t be skeptical of a particular company because it might not particularly be in the field that you are interested in… you just never know what they have to offer. My case in point: a bank was represented there that happens to be the bank that bought out the bank I work for (and now the reason I’m looking for a new job). I just felt like stopping by there to see what they had, and surprise, surprise… the rep there remembered me! He actually worked for the Shriver Center and helped me get my internship that eventually landed me my first job. But that wasn’t all! He was actually there to recruit for a software engineering position! In Maryland! Seriously, I thought all technical jobs were going to be housed at their main office in Pennsylvania, but geez, this was a big surprise to me. So give all the companies a chance!
The career fair was a LOT of fun! Who knows, I might actually do it again next year, even if I do have a job then. It’s free and it never hurts to see if there’s something better out there…
