Oakland University provides another rewarding Career Fair for students eager to get their foot in the door. Well-known companies  such as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), DTE Energy,Beaumont Hospital, Comerica Bank and Blue Cross openly recruited OU students.                          

   Career fairs are a valuable opportunity for networking and gaining work experience prior to graduation, as well as subsequently. It is a convenient approach to connect with employers and utilize both major and social skills. Recruiters were pleased to see a large mass of ambitious OU students.

“OU has great students who are so talented. It’s nice to see new faces,” Kayla Brown, FCA communications specialist, said. “It’s so important for students to attend career fairs. It’s a great networking experience for students, not just putting your resume online, but actually getting face-to-face time. It’s so important to make those connections.”

“Have Career Services work with you on your resume,” Brown continued.

“Mock interviews are essential. I was a student here [at Oakland] once, so take advantage of Career Services before coming out and meeting employers. Resumes are probably most important for these types of event.”

Students were dressed in professional attire as they wandered the overwhelming amount of employers at tables. senior communications major Paige Stefan explained how she prepared for the event.

“Honestly, this was very last minute. I kind of looked up some of the jobs, I went to Handshake and looked up some of the employers that were attending that pertained to my major,” Stefan said. “When I came here I actually didn’t end up going to the jobs I researched. I just kind of looked around and saw what would benefit me.”

Prior to this event, Stefan explained her nerves and expectancy in attending.

“I felt like I wasn’t prepared, like a lot of other students were. So I was nervous if I had the right questions [or] if I’m dressing appropriately,” Stefan said. “It’s [career fairs] communicating with employers, so it’s a really big event, especially if you want connections. Talking to other people was the most nerve-wracking thing, and making sure I was prepared. This is my first career fair and it went a lot better than I thought.”

Career Services provided a LinkedIn photo booth for students to have an opportunity in having a professional photo for their LinkedIn profile. Christina Schlenker, Career Services graduate assistant, and Jaclyn Nasir, Career Services ambassador, explained the importance of LinkedIn.

“It’s important to become an active user on LinkedIn to expand your network [and] connect with employers. It expands the conversation,” Nasir said. “If you’re searching for jobs, you can also connect with alumni that are in different jobs that you might be looking at too and do informational interviewing that way. Make a connection, but also find out more opportunities for the field that you’re in.”

“Keep it professional and don’t connect with every single one of your high school friends.,” Schlenker said. “It’s basically a resume online. Make sure you put stuff on there you   want employers to see. It’s basically like a professional Facebook in a way. Have a photo, because it makes it seem like you’re active on LinkedIn. You’ll get more interactions that way.”