This year’s Career Fair saw a confident group of students make connections with a variety of employers.
The annual Cane Career Fair took place last Wednesday. As in previous years, dozens of local, national and global employers gathered at the Reynolds Center to network with TU students. Those looking for internships, volunteer positions and long-term employment all had opportunities to forge meaningful and potentially life-changing connections in many industries.
The pressure to succeed and make an impression was palpable as students waited in line outside the fair. While Oklahoma delivered a classic humid, 80 degree September afternoon, anxious students in suit jackets stood with resumes in hand. Fairgoers practiced elevator pitches, reviewed their gameplans, spoke with friends and engaged in any number of distractions from their anxiety and the heat.
Students had a wide range of motivations for attending the fair. Some were searching for opportunities that would define their career trajectories for the next 30 years while others were required to attend for a grade. Yet other students (myself included) went without a particular goal in mind. Many students who I spoke to attended not because they were seeking a particular job or internship, but because they wanted general experience tweaking their resume, dressing professionally and selling themselves to recruiters. The free LinkedIn headshot was also a large motivator for many people.
Regardless of personal motivation and anxiety, though, there was an air of overall preparedness at the fair. Students were dressed properly and walked with their heads held high. The snippets I could hear of conversations included good quick pitches of students’ strengths and specific questions for the employers. It seemed that most students had experience with networking, whether from on-campus events, previous Career Fairs or work experience. The Prepare for the Fair events put on by Cane Careers also included support with resume writing, elevator pitches and accessing proper clothing in the week leading up to the fair. These efforts seemed to pay off as students walked confidently through the booths.
As is common at the Career Fair, most of the booths belonged to employers within the energy industry and students from the College of Engineering & Computer Sciences or the Collins College of Business had the most options for networking. But while major sponsor tables such as Williams and Walmart were certainly the most popular, there were also interesting opportunities for a variety of majors. Upstairs, away from the larger crowds, students could connect with Tulsa Public Schools, several local hospitals, Tulsa Police Department, Teach for America and other employers catering to a wider audience.
Overall, the Career Fair was successful in facilitating opportunities for students and the preparative events contributed to a sense of calm in what could easily be a stress-ridden afternoon. Also contributing to the sense of contentment at the fair was the promise of free ice cream at the exit. The highly sought after TU Stanley cups that students could win by completing a survey are sure to quickly become a status symbol on campus. Cane Careers did not need to lure students into a fulfilling and valuable networking experience with free dessert and merch but it was certainly a nice touch.
