Julie Funk is a recent graduate of the University of Waterloo's master’s program in Experimental Digital Media. She attended the annual P4E Job Fair as a University of Waterloo alumnus, along with current students and other alumni from Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier, University of Guelph and Conestoga College. Below she recounts her experience navigating Job Fair as a grad.
8:30 a.m.
It’s the morning of the Job Fair and I’m feeling really prepared. I have tons of copies of my résumé and I even had “introductory” business cards made with my own personal branding – these cards give employers a quick glance at my education, specialized skills, and of course my contact information.
Pro tip: You can order your own business cards through the Centre for Career Action!
9:30 a.m.
I still live in Waterloo and depend on public transportation to get around. Rim Park is really cool space, but kind of out of the way for me. Luckily, complimentary bus shuttles leave from the University of Waterloo every half hour on Fair day! All you need to do is hop on and the shuttle takes you right to front doors. When you're ready to leave, you can grab a shuttle from the fair back to the University.
10:00 a.m.
There's so much snow this morning, but that didn't stop students and alumni from coming out. It's first thing in the morning and the line for registration is growing long, but it moves quickly!
Editor's note: this was the snowiest Fair we've had in years, but we still had 1,700+ UWaterloo students and alumni come!
10:05 a.m.
Volunteers from the University of Waterloo greet us at the registration table (I learned that it takes 100+ volunteers to make the Fair possible). All you need to get in is a student or alumni card. Students and recent grads can use their valid Watcards. Alumni can use an alumni Watcard.
You can request the alumni card here. It also grants you access to a bunch of other campus resources and services - like appointments with an alumni career advisor!
11:30 a.m.
The place is packed! There are over 200 employer booths here and a ton of students, it's hard to decide where to go first!
Fortunately, there are guidebooks here with a floor plan to find each employer booths. Employers are listed both alphabetically and by industry - this way, I can hone in on exactly the employers I came to network with. Plus, the guidebooks even recommend some questions to ask employers!
Volunteers at the information booth suggested I download the Career Fair Plus app. It has all the information from the guidebook plus more tips for talking to employers.
11:35 a.m.
Once I had the app on my phone, it made it much easier to find and talk to the employers I was interested in. The Career Fair Plus app allows you to search the floor plan by employer name and available position type. I filtered by "Communications/Public Relations" and the app generated a map with all the booths I wanted to visit.
1:00 p.m.
I found a booth where you can get free professional photos for your online portfolio. Needless to say, this booth was pretty busy all day.
In the line, I met Gabriele. She's a fourth-year Actuarial Sciences student graduating at the end of this term. Job Fair is great for students who are thinking about the next steps to take after their degree because it allows students, grads, and soon-to-be grads to meet with employers who are preparing to hire.
2:00 p.m.
Ah! It's been a busy day. I talked to a lot of employers who are excited about recruiting young talent. They have some really good advice to give to those interested in their companies.
I have a lot to think about. Thankfully, if I feel really stuck, there's a Career Advising booth with career advisors from all four schools to answer questions.
In the meantime, I'm feeling really good about today. It was a productive way to spend my morning and afternoon, talking to a variety of employers all in one place. I received a lot of information about different companies and now I need to get to work doing my own career research, looking at job postings and maintaining these networks by keeping up to date with news and developments from companies.
