Go to job fairs

You may think that you don’t need to go to job fairs because you are only a freshman. This is not true. In my major, Computer and Information Technology, it is almost a must to have internships in order to get a job when you graduate. The two things that employers are looking for at least in the more technical degrees are experience and GPA. A person with a 3.0 with experience will be taken over a person with a 4.0 with no experience.

Going to the job fairs even if you don’t really want a job or internship is still important. It allows you to practice talking to companies and selling yourself. This way when you really are ready for that internship you will already be an expert on selling yourself.

I went to a job fair earlier this week for my major called AITP: Computer Roundtable and there I talked to every company except two. I did this to increase my chances of getting an interview from someone. Another reason is there are lots of good companies out there. Just because they are not a company you have heard of does not mean they would not be a good company to work for. Most people usually go for the bigger names, Allstate, Discover, Ford, Lockheed Martin, ect. I found some of the smaller companies are actually really good companies too, they just might not be national.

Make sure you dress up when you go to the job fairs as well. You need to dress to impress. This means a suit if you got it. If you don’t have a suit, you should get one because you are going to need it for interviews and other formal things as well. I personally wear my suit several times each semester for fraternity, job searching, and events for other organizations I am involved in.