On Thursday Feb. 24, the Job and Internship Fair will be held in Seibert Gym from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. All Samford students and alumni are welcome to attend, and professional attire will be required.
Connor Bradley, assistant director of Employer Relations in Samford’s Career Development Center, has planned this event with all students in mind.
“The Job and Internship Fair kind of has something for everybody,” Bradley said, “It’s a good place to network and explore different types of careers.”
Bradley also gave four major pieces of advice for students preparing to attend the Job and Internship Fair.
1. Do your research
“I would go ahead of time and look at the list of companies to try and strategize,” Bradley suggested.
Over 70 organizations will be attending the event and a full list of those employers can be found at hiresamford.com.
“For those who are looking at specific companies for careers and specific jobs, I would do some research into the company as far as what positions are available, what the company’s mission and values are, and specifics about the work that the company is doing,” Bradley said.
2. Practice an elevator pitch
An elevator pitch should be concise and sum up who you are as an individual.
“In an elevator pitch you want to give them the relevant information of who you are, what you’re studying, what year at Samford you are, and then if you have an idea, what types of jobs you’re looking for, what industry you want to be in, or kind of what your passions are,” Bradley explained.
3. Prepare a strong resume
“You want to have a one page resume that is easy to scan and cleanly formatted with good action verbs describing what you did at each position,” Bradley said.
He also suggested omitting a purpose statement or objective from your resume.
“Everything that would go in an objective or purpose statement, you can use in your elevator pitch,” Bradley said, “You want the recruiter to be able to quickly scan the resume and get the highlights of your work experience and I tend to think that an objective can distract from that. The objective or purpose statement is kind of one of those things where it’s not always going to help you, but if it’s not good it can hurt you.”
4. Dress for success.
Professional dress will be required at this event. When meeting recruiters, Bradley said it is wise to dress your best so you make a good impression.
Masks are optional, but having one on hand may be a good idea for this event.
“My suggestion would maybe be to bring a mask and if you see the recruiter is wearing a mask, maybe put on the mask to talk to that recruiter,” Bradley said.
