The ACES and Sciences Career Fair is a great opportunity to jump start your career exploration or job search. With the interdisciplinary nature of NRES and the wide range of careers for which you are prepared, you may find it difficult to identify NRES-related employers, especially when companies and organizations post positions under so many different titles. NRES students must approach career fairs differently than students who are training for jobs in which individual companies hire a dozen or more of them a year (e.g. accountant). The exhibitors probably have NRES-related jobs available, but they are generally not going to be the ones that they advertise at the career fair. So here are ways you can make your career fair experience useful and productive:
- Go to career fairs every year. When you are a freshman, sophomore, or junior, you should attend career fairs to learn how they work, become more comfortable in them, practice talking about yourself, build your network, and look for internship opportunities. As a senior, your efforts must be much more focused on preparation and research.
- Attend career fairs that are likely to have the types of employers that interest you. Everyone should attend the ACES Career Fair in the fall, and the Business and Engineering fairs are also very useful for certain types of positions.
- Find out which employers will be there:
- Log in. For students, use https://c42-shib.symplicity.com/sso/. For alumni, use https://i-link-illinois-csm.symplicity.com/.
- Click the “Events” tab at the top of the page.
- Click “Career Fairs”.
- Click on the fair for which you are planning.
- Research the exhibitors by using their web site and industry information to determine what types of NRES-related jobs they are likely to have (e.g. a chemical company is going to have people responsible for all permitting and regulations governing disposal and occupational health and safety).
- Develop an interesting, engaging 30-second description of your skills/experience and what you are seeking.
- When you talk with representatives, you can get more information about what might be available and how to pursue it by asking:
- What types of environmental regulations does your company have to follow? (Ask in a way that demonstrates your knowledge and is appropriate for the likely expertise level of the representative.)
- What does your company call the division that is responsible for management of natural resources/health and safety/environmental compliance? (Word in the way that seems most appropriate for the organization.)
- Who would be the appropriate person to contact for more information about the division and the types of positions your company needs?