Career Fair as a First Year

Career Fairs are usually a hot mess. Employers from hundreds of companies come and by the end of the night, you're not sure if you really accomplished anything at all. It might even be a very anxiety-provoking experience for some. So I decided to share a little about my experience and offer some tips that I found worked for myself and for my friends!

• Career Fair for graduate school is fairly different from undergrad, at least for OT it's fairly different. The OT world is fairly small (but tight!) and so even though many companies and hospitals do come out to career fairs, you're not overwhelmed by the number of tables (back in Boston there were almost 100+ companies at every fair). This gave me a lot more time to really engage and ask questions without the pressure of meeting everyone in time.

• Do your research!! If you're on a tight schedule or just don't want to stay all day at the career fair, I suggest doing your research on the companies that you're interested in applying to. USC Chan does a great job in sending out the employers who will be there so you get a good idea of who to do research on. And if you casually drop it into your conversation "... so I saw that you mentioned on your website that your company's mission emphasizes diversity..." then employers will be impressed that you made the effort.

• Ask good questions- Instead of asking questions about salary, paid time off, or hours, try to ask more qualitative questions about the experience of the employees. One of my go-to questions are "What are the common challenges employees find in this setting?" Also the OT community is so friendly and they really want to know you as a person, that if you become honest and vulnerable with employers, they will see the integrity and genuinity in that!

• FOLLOW UP. Saying a Thank You really goes a long way. As a first year, many of my friends told me that it's not worth networking because you didn't graduate yet. I don't think that's totally true. Many recruiters come year after year. Make an impression during your first year so that when they come back in your second year- you will already have a rapport to work and build off of rather than starting from a new slate. It's never too early to start building and connection relationships!

Finally, as a graduate student, sometimes (hahahaha all the time...) money is tight. Go for the free stuff! I got some really cool things including an anatomy poster, pens, hand sanitizers, a water bottle, gum, etc.! They seem like small things but they really go a long way and can save you a couple bucks along the way!