Located in the Northridge Center at the USU, the March 22 Job Fair will be available to all students in search of jobs after graduation or wanting to practice their interview skills with real world professionals.
Beginning at 10 a.m., the event will have over 80 representatives from large and small companies alike. The number is tentative, informs Patricia Gaynor, assistant director of CSUN’s career center.
“You will be amazed with what all companies have to offer,” Gaynor said. “Especially the small ones. They surprise the students the most due to the specific interest or jobs they offer potential recruits.”
The event, organized by the Career Center, is strongly promoted by Gaynor and other counselors as a place that offers many avenues of success for students of all majors in this economy.
A few of the listed jobs to make an appearance in the job fairs website are companies like the Entertainment Industries Council, Panda Restaurant Group Inc., Caltrans, ABC7 and Sherwin Williams.
For Gaynor, Panda Restaurant Group Inc. is the perfect example for students who are seeking a job. The companies headquarters are based in Rosemead, Ca, which can offer students a huge opportunity at obtaining a career without the need to trek across the country.
“While not all companies present will have it, many will have a list in their booth of the type of positions they are looking to fill,” Gaynor said. “All will be available to be asked what they are looking for in potential employees.”
According to Gaynor, students going to the job fair should not brush off small companies due to the lack of recognition. Unlike larger companies, smaller ones offer graduates a chance to advance at a much quicker pace, there being no need to grind long years of work usually encountered in larger ones.
Students planning on attending the fair should do a few things before going, according to Daniel Levitch, job developer at the Career Center.
“Dress nice, go with resumes in hand and have a look that they a looking for,” Levitch said. “While the representatives run the gamut of the different types of jobs available, they can all appreciate a ready individual.”
Levitch recommends that students should have what he calls an “elevator speech” prepared, a 30 second pitch about yourself, which is paired with a strong handshake and eye contact.
“Whether they are willing to accept resumes or not, go in as though it was an interview,” Levitch said.
Levitch states that the majority of the time it is these skills, the ability to properly communicate, are the ones that they are looking.
For students like Angie Torres, a 22-year-old senior psychology major, the idea of job hunting can be overwhelming and intimidating.
“A year from now I’ll be hunting out there with rest of them, and it would be great to at least get some practice interviewing even if I don’t get a job,” Torres said.
Torres said no amount of internships seem to be enough.
“It’s good to know the school still wants to prepare its students,” she said. “It’s almost comforting.”
While the event has been occuring for nearly 20 years, there are students like Erika Baron, a 23 year old bio psychology major, who will be going there for the first time after hearing about it through word of mouth. “Some friends who are graduating this semester are completely psyched about attending and I just got caught up in the energy, I was going to go sooner than later considering the economy.”
