(Nick McCarthy)
Sophomore engineering major Allison Griffin, prepared herself to look and sound the part of a young professional for Wednesday’s Career Fair. Prior to the fair, Griffin updated her resume, researched company Web sites and read materials distributed by the Hegi Career Center to ensure she would both look and act professional when meeting company representatives and prospective employers.
The Spring 2007 Career Fair, put on by the Hegi Career Center, is the largest networking opportunity on campus for SMU students. This year, 92 companies had booths at the event.
Most students who attended the Career Fair felt the it helped them to connect with industry professionals and “opened their eyes to the opportunities,” first-year Laura Wortman said.
Additionally, SMU alumni benefited from the fair. Dee Holliday, an SMU alum who graduated in 2006, agreed the fair was a helpful resource for connecting to the professional Dallas community.
“When you graduate, it is really hard to get face time with employers,” Holliday said.
She thought the fair added value to her job search by allowing the opportunity to personally connect with potential employees, as opposed to being a faceless resume in an overwhelming pile of applications.
While most students had a positive experience at the Career Fair, others came away from the event frustrated. Chemistry major Shailendra Daniels felt that the fair could have represented more diverse companies.
“Not everybody from every major can come,” Daniels said.
Likewise, music performance major Nick Reynolds thought the fair failed to consider every student’s interests. Although there were such companies represented at the event such as JP Morgan Chase, Lockheed Martin, TXU, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, Match.com, The American Cancer Society, and Abercrombie & Fitch, Reynolds was still unable connect with companies pertaining to his interests.
“Most of the booths were financial or business companies,”he said.
Senior CCPA major Emily Graham decided not to attend the fair.
“After looking over the list of visiting companies, I determined the event was not for me,” she said.
Although Graham did not attend the event, in the end, she does believe the Career Fair provides excellent networking practice for all students, regardless of their major.
