Career Fair offers opportunities for students, alumni

With 71 employers and six graduate schools all on hand under the roof of the SUNY Poly Campus Center Gym, students got a chance recently to start getting serious about where they’re headed after graduation during the Career and Graduate School Fair, presented by the Career Services office.

“The Career and Graduate School Fair here at SUNY Polytechnic Institute is a wonderful opportunity for students to interact with employers and showcase how their academic preparation can be applied to the workplace setting,” said Sim Covington, Director of Career Services and organizer of the event. “My hope is that students go on to gain full-time, part-time and internship experience, as well as brush up on their networking skills with recruiters.”

For the second year in a row, the March 24 event was the biggest career fair in the Mohawk Valley, giving students, alums, and employers the chance to meet informally. While the students and alumni get the chance to learn more about prospective employers, those employers are given the opportunity to meet students and alums that are interested in being a part of their team – whether that means full-time or part-time employment, or internships.

Employers varied from healthcare to manufacturing, accounting to engineering, and offered students the opportunity to not only show off their academic prowess and analytic skills, but also put to use their honed abilities of interpersonal communication, leadership, social graces, and even dress code. Those “soft skills” are something that Covington says are just as crucial to making it in the job market as ability when interviewing.

“Our students are definitely equipped when it comes to the hard skills, though some still struggle with soft skills,” Covington said “The Business Etiquette Luncheon hosted by my office in the fall addresses the soft skills accordingly, in addition to my “How to Prepare for a Job Fair” workshop.”

For some, the next leg of the journey may not be the workforce, but an opportunity to take their education even further, something Covington says can be a very wise investment.

“In my opinion, graduate school is always a great idea for several reasons,” said Covington. “One, you never know what the economy is going to do and you want to be as marketable as possible.  Two, a graduate degree is a great resource for students interested in upward mobility.  Three, given that many individuals may change their job type or employer, a graduate degree can increase their opportunity for a job offer as it implies additional training and preparation.  Finally, if an individual has employment at an organization which will pay for a graduate degree, they should definitely take advantage for all the reasons I’ve mentioned.”