October 12, 2021, by Caroline Nolan
Virtual Careers Fairs: The Ultimate Guide
By Katy Skillen, MNutr Nutrition and Dietetics, student blogger
So, you’ve got to grips with lectures from home, societies from home, and catching up with friends… from home. But how about discovering your next job from home?
Well, that is exactly what a virtual careers fair aims to help you do! Having attended the virtual Engineering, Science and Technology Careers Fair, organised by the Careers team, I thought I’d share some of my top tips to make the most of virtual fairs.
1. Read about the companies
Honestly, there are just so many companies that attend these online events. Having them all at your fingertips can be quite overwhelming! Therefore, take some time before the fair to read about who will be there. Think about any questions you want answered and what these companies are looking for.
All the companies who will be attending can be found on the Careers website.
2. Be open-minded
At real life careers fairs, you randomly pass loads of stalls as you walk around the room. Therefore, you may find yourself going up to ones that you have never even heard of – just because you were attracted by the free sweets on offer! This means you probably check out lots of employers that you may not have planned to look at. But as you can’t just accidentally pass a stall at a virtual careers fair, you have to make a real effort to be open-minded.
I recommend scrolling through the list of companies on offer and try to check out at least three employers that you hadn’t planned to look at before coming to the event.
3. Listen and learn
Having real employees from these companies talk about their own experiences truly brings to life what the job is about. Hearing some of the employees talk about how they got to where they are in their career was so interesting; and something you can never access on a company website.
Even though it was through a screen, you can really get a feel of the ethos and atmosphere of a company, so please do take time to just sit and listen to the employer group chats and presentations.
4. Be bold
Don’t sit still: get typing. Ask questions, engage in discussions and really just get to know the companies. You can even upload your CV for employers to view, which is a great opportunity to get some feedback.
5. Have a pen and paper handy
And of course, don’t forget to be frantically scribbling in the background. These events are the perfect place to get information about top interview tips, important deadline dates and any quirks about the companies that you may not have known.
With online careers fairs, it’s actually a lot easier to make good notes than it may be in person, so take advantage of this. Sitting at your desk, no one is elbowing you out of the way, so there is no need to rush. Don’t leave a virtual stall until you have all the information you want.
In conclusion, you really have nothing to lose by attending one of these fairs. Even if you just have a half an hour break between lectures, pop in. Who knows, you may just meet your dream employer… even if it is over a screen!
Whether you know what you want to do in the future or not, join us on Monday 18 and Wednesday 20 October to explore what’s on offer.
Find out more and register your place
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