On Thursday, March 31, JSC will host its annual career and internship fair in SHAPE from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.

According to Beth Walsh, career development coordinator, the fair provides an opportunity to pair prospective employers with students seeking jobs. “We should have 40 to 50 employers coming to campus with different opportunities,” Walsh said. “Most of them have jobs or internships, but some are just there to interact with students for future engagements as well. They are from Vermont, Lamoille County, and also from out of state.”

Ellen Hill, internship program coordinator, noted that there are plenty of different opportunities for students at the upcoming fair and a variety of economic sectors will be represented, “There’s businesses that represent for-profit, not for-profit, the public and private sectors, and it’s just a way for students to really be able to do some exploring for both,” she said.

Walsh suggested that students attending the fair dress appropriately, as first impressions count. “Students will make a much better impression if they are dressed business casual,” she said. “Don’t wear caps; you just want to look professional.”

Important too are résumés, which could well prove valuable. “Students should also bring a copy of their résumé with them, or a few copies actually, and when the list of employers we put out ahead of time comes out, they should take a look at that and pick a few they are most interested in and talk to them first,” said Walsh. “Then they can go to the other places afterwards.”

Walsh and Hill also offered a few other tips for students attending. “If you’re waiting in line, listen to the questions being asked by the employers and the answers they are getting, and think about how you can prepare yourself to give good answers too,” Walsh advised.

Hill added that a number of prospective employers are also JSC alumni. “JSC alumni have pins that say they are graduates, so there is that type of connection,” she said. “A lot of times the employers went through that path themselves, went through an internship and were hired, and now they are recruiting or are employees, so it’s really cool to see the cycle of connectivity.”

In addition, there will be a photographer for anyone who missed the LinkedIn profile photoshoot.
The list of employers that will be attending the fair will be posted online at: jsc.edu/careers.

Hill also advised students to attend as many job fairs in the area as possible. “It’s also a good chance to practice walking up to someone whom you may not know and introducing yourself,” she said. “Think about the body language, the eye contact, the handshake, the demeanor to ask good open ended questions, and really go for it.”

Walsh and Hill also stressed that underclassmen are more than welcome to come and get a feel for what a fair is like so they can be more comfortable and confident when their time comes to search. “When I see first-year students in there I really love it because there’s no pressure to perform but they can see, ‘oh this is what it really looks like and sounds like, this is okay, I can handle this.’ We also love when faculty support it and offer extra credit, and require students to go. It helps us, but also the students.”

Hill pointed out that 70 percent of JSC graduates who replied in the 2014 survey and who said they had completed an internship were offered jobs at the site and took it, or received an offer and decided not to accept, but were offered jobs somewhere else because of it.

This month is also “March Madness for the Internship center,” says Hill. “We have workshops, Dinner with the Boss, The C&I Fair, pop-in and pop-out hours, so if students are really interested in ways to enhance their résumé, there are opportunities for them to work on fine tuning.”

Pop-in Hours at the Career and Internship Center are most Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. “I make good popcorn,” Walsh added.