Congrats on making it to the Spring Job Fair and completing another task on your 4 Year Plan for Career Success! Before putting it all behind you, take a few moments to make the most of your efforts thus far.
- Get organized.
You likely have a handful of notes, fliers, papers, and business cards from the people that you met. Great! Review that information now, while your short notes and abbreviations will still mean something to you. Follow up on the suggestions employers gave you. Check out/Bookmark websites of organizations you want to keep an eye on. Stay connected!
- Polish your LinkedIn profile.
If you don’t have a LinkedIn account yet, get one started. If you gave your name to any employer, they will start looking for your online presence. The Career Center hosts a workshop for this each Thursday in the Hub at 4:15pm.
- If you’ve got a LinkedIn profile, use it.
This is one of the greatest things about LinkedIn. At the Job Fair, you informally met someone who could help you professionally someday, so you want to stay connected. Find them on LinkedIn! This is part of networking and it’s not difficult. Search for the people you met at the fair who you want to keep in contact with and/or you may want to connect with in the future. Invite them to connect with you by adding a personalized note like, “It was nice meeting you at the UVM Fair this week. Thanks for sharing information about (company name). I’d like to add you to my professional network.” Once connected, you can send them a message if there was something specific you wanted to discuss. If you have their email address, use email instead to follow up on tasky items.
- Keep your resume polished.
We know many students get a resume together for the Job Fair without spending much time reviewing it. Spend a little more time with it now to make sure that you’ve presented yourself in the best way possible. If you got feedback from employers at the fair, incorporate that into the next version. Get it reviewed by a Career Center staff member at the Hub during drop-ins or through the Catamount Job Link. Keep it current and in great shape so it’s ready for use!
- Don’t get discouraged.
If you didn’t find your dream job/internship and/or an employer doesn’t respond to you as hoped, don’t give up. Talk with a Career Counselor about other ways to approach your search. There are lots of different paths to explore.
~Jill