Career Fair coming in February to MMC and BBC


What are we really doing to help our students and alumni get jobs?

Why do we put ourselves through the trials of obtaining an advanced degree? Naturally, the desire to seek higher education should be sparked by the love of learning, but ultimately students need to take what they’ve learned and apply it to a rewarding career. FIU’s students and alumni are not on their own when it comes time to put their degree to work.

FIU’s Career Services Office strives to prepare students to transition from academia into the workworld through professional development workshops, practice interviews, career counseling, on-campus interviewing and a huge variety of events. Undoubtedly, the most significant event for student and alumni jobseekers is the bi-annual Career Fair, which brings employers to the Modesto Maidique and Biscayne Bay Campuses each spring and fall semester.

“Last Career Fair [fall 2010] at MMC, 89 employers recruited at the U.S. Century Bank Arena, and over 1,000 students and alumni attended,” according to Ivette Duarte, associate director of the Career Services Office. “We have recruiters from federal and local government, private corporations, non-profits—almost any area you can think of. It’s a cost-free resource we really want our students to take full advantage of.”

Just a small sample of companies registered to attend this spring includes Caterpillar, GEICO, GE, PepsiCo, Target, Sherwin Williams, and the U.S. Department of State. “Recruiters know that at FIU they can find the diversity and experience they seek, whether for an entry-level position or a more senior appointment. Where else can you find students and alumni from such different backgrounds, from all over the world? That carries a lot of value,” says Jairo Ledesma, Assistant Director in the Career Services Office.

To help students prepare for Career Fair, where conversations often turn into interviews, the Career Services Office provides MEGA Career Week, which occurs the week before each Career Fair. “MEGA Career Week consists of our most popular workshops — like Resumé Writing, Interviewing Skills, How to Prepare for Career Fair — in a more intensive schedule to accommodate as many students as possible. It’s the perfect way to gear up for networking with employers at the Fair,” according to Ms. Duarte. She added “employers quite often comment to us on how well prepared and professionally developed our students are — a quality they highly value.”

The Career Fair is free to Florida International University students and alumni, who need to be dressed professionally and have a Panther ID number for admittance.

Spring 2011 Career Fairs take place:

Modesto Maidique Campus
Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011
3 – 7 p.m.
U.S. Century Bank Arena

Biscayne Bay Campus
Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011
11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Wolfe University Center Ballrooms

For more information, please contact the Career Services Office at http://career.fiu.edu, or at 305-348-2423.

— Kenneth Setzer

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