As of now, there have been a multitude of career fairs ranging from economics to engineering. Currently, I have gone most of them (except for engineering) and they give me something to look forward to every week. Usually, I show up for the free stuff but time and time again I find myself staying for the connections and the job opportunities that are available in Columbus and the rest of the world.
Thus far, my favorite fair was THE Career and Internship Fair that took place on September 17th and 18th. This was definitely the first career fair that I went to without the sole intention of getting free stuff. I wanted to see what job/internship opportunities there were for my major (and other subjects I was interested in). The first thing I learned was that I was definitely a rookie: I did not have a resume and I barely had nice enough business clothes to meet the dress code requirement. My initial reaction to counter my lack of preparation was to just own up to it. It turns out that I did not have to worry because there were students in casual business wear like me, and since I am a freshman most companies were not able to offer me jobs or internships. I am glad that the priority to find an internship/job is not too high for freshmen because it gives me a chance to understand how the fair works and what employers are looking for in a resume/worker.
From a glace, the fair can look intimidating, but it was actually a lot of fun! The representatives there were very kind and there was a wide variety of companies. Each representative was even willing to listen to freshmen and gave me tip on how to build my resume or even how to apply to their internships my sophomore or junior year. Personally, I didn’t find many companies that were a strong interest of mine. Each had their pros and cons, but I did not find one that I believe would challenge me but also be a fulfilling position. I did, however, make a contact with the NSA and Brightedge. What drew me towards the NSA was the possibility of getting more hands-on experience with things such as policy and maybe having some parts of astrophysics be incorporated in there somewhere. The NSA representative made it sound like it was a very collaborative internship, and knowing how much I enjoy working in groups, I thought it would fun to try it out. The company Brightedge caught my interest for a similar reason. They are one of the top tech companies which sounds very exciting to be apart of. They made their company sound like a good balance between innovation and working with the outside world. From my interest in these two businesses, I found that I value learning and developing new technologies while also finding ways for these technologies to benefit others. I believe that if I have an internship with either of these companies that I will definitely enjoy myself.
I am very happy that I decided to come to the Career and Internship Fair. It really opened up my perspective on what I want to complete during and after college.
And here’s the headshot that I got for free!
