Students attend Fall Career Fair en masse

The Petersen Events Center is usually packed with students wearing wrinkly yellow Oakland Zoo… The Petersen Events Center is usually packed with students wearing wrinkly yellow Oakland Zoo T-shirts, but on Wednesday students packed the basketball court with pressed suits and portfolios, exchanging free pens for resumes.

Employers from 200 nonprofits, corporations and government agencies and representatives from 50 graduate and professional schools stood next to tables laid out with business cards and eye-catching props at the 2011 Fall Career Fair, organized by Student Employment & Placement Assistance. Employers set up on the basketball court and concourse level for five hours offering job and internship opportunities.

Some upperclassmen dove right into the mix of tables with rehearsed lines at the ready, while many freshmen watched timidly from a distance.

Students from all grade levels showed up to the fair, all for different reasons and all with different ideas about how to go about making a best first impression with potential employers. A constant flow of students passed through the Pete on their way to the fair, and most of the tables were occupied with students during the fair, which went on for five hours.

Freshman Cara Ocampo, undeclared, admitted that she showed up because of a recommendation from a Career Office Consultant without any expectations or preparation. Meanwhile, senior Steven Merkiel, an electrical engineering major, said that he researched companies online and brought several versions of his resume in hopes of obtaining an electrical engineering job.

According to the Career Fair’s brochure, many of the companies and agencies were looking for chemical, electrical and mechanical engineers, offering jobs ranging from entry-level to advanced positions. Some other nonprofits and agencies had specific positions for business and accounting majors.

Jillian Petras, a talent acquisition specialist at Enterprise Holdings, a company that operates rental car subsidiaries said the expansion of Enterprise Holdings allowed for an increase in jobs available this year for entry-level sales associates and paid summer internships.

She said that her company is looking to hire 110 management trainees and about 20 paid summer interns. She usually receives about 1,100 applications for the open positions.

“The first thing we look for is dress,” she said. “First impressions can tell us whether you look like you’ll be appropriate for the position or not.”

Petras said that Pitt’s Outside the Classroom Curriculum has been beneficial in identifying qualified candidates for Enterprise. She said that many employees have been hired because of their excellence in extracurricular involvement.

“We look at experience with part-time work and involvement in other student organizations,” which she said can be highlighted through students’ completion of the OCC.

Petras also places a heavy emphasis on a potential candidate’s level of commitment to work experience when evaluating applications, rather than just the number of different experiences a candidate might have.

“Having a few long-term work experiences rather than 10 short-term jobs over the span of a year or two shows dedication and the ability to start a project and follow it through,” she said.

Another thing that might turn a potential employer off to an otherwise well-rounded candidate can be availability. An applicant that comes off as “having other priorities” or “being inflexible” during the interview process can be interpreted as lacking genuine interest in the position, Petras said.

 Junior John Nalls said that getting a job might be more about who a student knows rather than what experiences they’ve had. In his experience, a mixture of having the right diversity of experience and knowing who to go to for guidance can make or break a job hunt.

“A lot of companies make it look easy by having online applications, but they really just hire through people they know or take references from employees,” he said. “It’s all about knowing those people.”

Nalls, a mechanical engineering major, said he highlights the diversity of his interests in interviews and applications, which he hopes will show his willingness to be open-minded and flexible to employers. Although it was his first time at the Career Fair, he hoped that by meeting employers he would be able to make a first impression that could lead to a summer internship.

Vanessa Joseph, an assistant hiring manager at Panera franchise Covelli Enterprises, said that having a good personality and showing genuine interest can make a bigger impact on employers than anything else. She urged underclassmen to work on their verbal and social skills before they need to put them to use.

Joseph suggested that networking in college is a major way to get in contact with potential employers and improve social skills that come into play during interviews and the application process.

“We also look for a clear, concise resume that highlights your main points and best attributes,” Joseph said. “Make it simplistic. You can look well-rounded without listing everything you’ve ever done.”

Junior Andrew Gentilcore, a mechanical engineering major, puts greater emphasis on initial presentation and meeting potential employers in person than anything else. He said that the Career Fair benefited him because employers provided immediate feedback about whether he had the chance of turning the meeting into a job.

“I got several job offers at the Co-Op Fair at Pitt last year, and one of them turned into a paid summer internship,” he said. “I had already submitted my resume to other companies [who didn’t go to the Co-Op Fair] online and didn’t get any calls back.”