By: Ellie McCartney
The Academic Career and Development Center (ACDC) at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) held their annual Career and Internship Fair at Baxter Arena Wednesday, March 27.
An academic and career advisor for ACDC, Allie Gavin said that the career fair is all about providing students with connections with potential employers. As far as preparation for the event goes, there are several things that students need to do beforehand.
“Have an elevator pitch to introduce yourself, explain what your studying, what you are looking for. Whether it’s full-time position, part-time or internship,” Gavin said. “Having a resume. So, coming into ACDC or utilizing professors to update your resume and having multiple resumes ready is important.”
With a variety of employers to choose from, UNO students have the opportunity to meet a lot of employers in a small amount of time. Not only are these employers looking for full-time and part-time employees, they are specifically looking to recruit UNO students, said Gavin.
Khylie Kight, a staff assistant for ACDC, explained how many employers would be present at the event.
“We have over a 135 employers at this event,” Kight said. “We’ve got everything from Gallup to Mutual of Omaha to Berkshire Hathaway.”
Emily Cardar, an employer from Valmont Industries, gave her opinion about the importance of making a good first impression with employers and what she is looking for from students within the first few minutes of meeting them.
“When students come up to me at career fairs, something I really look for is confidence,” said Cardar. “I would say a first impression is huge. Is someone is willing to talk and ask questions I think that’s key. I’m not going to ask for resume until I have a really good conversation with a candidate.”
To fully prepare for the career and internship fair, Ben Vanderwert, an employer from NTT Security, said he expects student to do a little research on certain companies they are interested in.
“Pick out a couple employers that you are really interested in and do a little research,” said Vanderwert. “Have confidence and ask specific questions around the company. So, we can give a real intro overview of the organization.”
Another benefit to going to the career and internship fair was the option to get free professional headshots done by ACDC staff for students social media profiles, such as, Facebook or LinkedIn.
