This week I attended my university’s career fair. The event itself was almost a complete failure for me. Networking and meeting people can never be a total failure, but this one was close. I am writing this 5 hours after the career fair so my frustration is still fresh in my mind.
Attending an institute focusing mainly on engineering and technology, career fairs at my university are already difficult to find employers searching for marketing or business majors. My college makes a successful attempt at connecting students with employers during smaller career fairs for just business majors. Yet the main career fair sincerely lacks diversity.
My first career fair was an overwhelming, but exhilarating experience. This year was a stark contrast. To give the benefit of the doubt, it is a spring career fair so there were fewer companies and less attendance. However all attendees seemed more frantic and less hopeful, and hiring managers mimicked these feelings. My conversations were maybe 5 minutes long at most with each employer, everyone I spoke to was quick and straight to the point, and it was difficult to make a true connection. Only 10-15 companies were hiring my college, and 5 hiring my manager, not to mention the various constraints and requirements I need for my position. I am only looking for internships that are in my area, and only during the summer or fall or both. So my options are limited. By the end of the fair, I spoke to 15 companies, five of which did not even hire within my college, and I only had 2 actual job applications I submitted. Most employers took my resume, but mainly gave me their cards and strongly encouraged me to contact them, mostly through LinkedIn, to stay in touch about current or future opportunities in their company.
The one positive meeting I had reminded me of my last blog post, about how the job search, or digitally marketing yourself, has shifted from in-person to online networking. In my conversation, the hiring manager did not know about the job I was interested in, a digital marketing internship for a historic company in Rochester. However, she knew the hiring manager for that position and she was not in attendance. The employer at the career fair gave me her LinkedIn, and we connected right there. She told me to send her a message asking about the position and contact information for the hiring manager, and she would be glad to get me in contact.
Thankfully I remembered to update my LinkedIn before the career fair, instead of just my resume because I know how digitally focused these events have started to become. There are QR codes where you can submit your application for the position you just spoke about to an employer, or your information for the company to have for future openings. Many tech companies bring tablets, which have some type of form where you can do the same. Within those applications often you are given the option to fill out your application with your LinkedIn, assuming it is kept up to date.
This one conversation could sincerely be my only lead from the whole event. It is interesting how I attended an in-person hiring event, yet the most valuable thing I received was someone's LinkedIn, to contact someone else LinkedIn. I put on a suit and relearned how to tie a tie, woke up early to get ready, printed my resumes days in advance, showed up early, and spoke to a professor about missing a class for the event, just for one person's LinkedIn to be the most valuable information received.
In summary, my recent experience at the university career fair, while frustrating, underscored a crucial lesson for me, particularly in the field of digital marketing. Despite the fair's shortcomings in offering immediate opportunities, it illuminated the profound importance of online networking and maintaining a dynamic digital presence. The most promising lead I received came not from a direct job offer but from a connection made on LinkedIn, reinforcing the idea that the essence of job searching and marketing oneself in today's digital age lies in leveraging online platforms. This experience, though initially disappointing, has ultimately emphasized the need for digital marketing professionals to prioritize and perfect their online networking strategies. It's a clear indication that success in this field increasingly depends on our ability to navigate and utilize digital spaces effectively.
