The Winter Career Fair

Ah the UMSI Winter Career Fair. An annual affair that took place from 12-4pm on Thursday, January 26th. First years and second years alike flocked to the event hoping to land coveted internships and sweet full-time gigs with the following employers:

3M Afia, Inc. Arbor Networks ArborMetrix Auto-Owners Insurance Cengage/Gale Civis Analytics Cognizant Technology Solutions Consumers Energy Deloitte Digital Studio Echo360 FICO Ford Motor Company GE

IBM JOOl Health Improvement Path Systems LLamasoft Logic Solutions Lutron Marketing Associates Michigan Health Information Network (MiHIN) Michigan State University Mitsubishi Electric Automotive America, Inc. NITS Solutions Perficient QuikOrder

SkySpecs TechSmith TechTown Detroit - DTX Launch Detroit Tekton, Inc. TIBCO Software Trinity Health UM Office of Academic Innovation United Shore UMich Information and Technology UMich Office of Technology Transfer Services Venture for America

We all know the reasons why we should go to career fairs:

1. Networking. Developing career contacts.
2. Perfecting your 30 second sell.
3. Learning about companies in your field of interest.
4. Grabbing FREE swag (I got a nice water bottle, a t-shirt, numerous pens, a beauty kit with lotion, listerine strips, …)

But what’s the insider scoop on these things you may wonder? Well I found a couple UMSI students all too eager to share their experience.

“I tend to get overwhelmed by events like this, and having a plan going into the career fair helped me to stay calm and focused. One other thing that really helped me to stay positive was to remember that these companies were there to talk with students like me! There was really no reason to be nervous,” shared Marcy a first-year in HCI.

“I did research before the career fair, so I kind’ve knew which employers I wanted to talk to. [Also] I saw where people were waiting in line and I asked my friends, ‘What is this about?’ and if I felt interested- and there was an internship position open- then I would wait in line,” stated Phoebe a first-year in IAR. She also had some tips to share. “If you don’t have time to do research beforehand, try to do so in line, because there’s always a long line. And you can also do some warm-up, like talk to the companies you are less interested in first so you become more confident.”