Career Services Update - week of March 15, 2004!

* Career Fair – Can you feel the excitement? Yes, Career Fair fever has officially set in. We’ll have over 30 companies participating right here in our gym on Wednesday March 17 from 9:30am-1:30pm. Check this handy link for the companies who will be attending.

When you come in there will be Monster.com bags for you with a list of who is attending inside along with a survey (more on the survey later). Please sign in as well.

To make your experience a fruitful one follow these tips:

Dress nice – The average job fair attendee wears a polo shirt or sweater – go them one better by dusting off that necktie or jacket.

Bring your resume – The Career Services office has nice stationery for your resume.

Carry yourself professionally the entire time you are at the Fair – Mind your manners and language, after all, we have guests.

Be prepared to speak about yourself without rambling for 30 seconds. - Some call this your “commercial”. If you can hit the high points about yourself in a concise, informative way you’ll make a very nice impression.

Know thy employer – Almost all of the businesses participating have websites where you can learn more about them. Take a few moments and brush up – you don’t need to know everything, but a basic understanding of what they do can go a long way.

Ask for the business cards of decision makers – write a thank you note to the ones that you are interested in working for.

Regardless of your situation (Jr., Sr. etc.,) you can benefit by coming to the Career Fair (some may have summer positions and internships). The Recruiters are here to promote their businesses – don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Survey – In an effort to improve things a survey is included that I would like you to fill out after you’ve visited the Career Fair. For your efforts, if you put your name on the survey you will be in a drawing for a Thomas College T-Shirt. You’ll have until Friday to return the survey to be eligible for the drawing – just drop it off at the Career Services office.

* Have you seen IT? - There is a lot of concern (justifiably so) among students that there isn’t much in the way of CIS employers present at the fair. I do take full responsibility for that, but at the same time feel you must be made aware of some of the issues that influence a lack of an IT presence.

Most businesses don’t hire IT professionals in the numbers that “justify” an appearance at a Career Fair. They also have a very high return rate when they place an ad in one of the traditional job-posting methods.

Jobsinme.com has 39 jobs listed under IT/Computers posted since March 1^st (five are in the Augusta area, one of those, w/ GB Programming will be at the Fair – one is in Waterville). The bulk of the positions are in the Greater Portland Area. There is a Job Marketplace Fair advertised for this Thursday in The Employment Times at the Sheraton South Portland and not one business listed has an IT focus – and that’s where those jobs are.

There will be an Androscoggin County Community Fair April 8 and 9 with over 40 employers attending – none of which have computer jobs either.

Cianbro had a job posted for a programmer in mid February – they will be at the Fair.

I’m not sharing these things to frighten you, or make excuses. There are IT jobs out there – they just won’t necessarily be coming to find you. The Career Services office is here to help you determine a job hunt strategy that will work for you.

Have a great week and I’ll see you at the Fair!

Career Services

Thomas College

Waterville, ME

(207) 859-1106 - phone

(207) 859-1114 - fax