Career fair 2024
DePaul University tries to connect its students to many companies each year by holding several events. One of these events is the Career Fair. This year was special as I got to attend not one but two fairs, the second one being my favourite.
September 25th was the Fall All-Industry-wide career fair. Meaning, all majors were welcome to talk to companies of their choice/who were hiring someone from their field. This day was great. Many companies were present and I was able to hold conversations with multiple interesting companies such as:
- Shure Incorporated – Who manufactures top-tier microphones and audio devices
- Epic Systems – A software company that works in healthcare departments.
Unfortunately, I did not have time to attend the workshops, as there are so many great companies to talk to! One of the companies that I loved connecting with was Northern Trust as I was able to talk to a DePaul alum about his journey from the same classrooms as mine to where he is now today.
Filled with great tips and advice here are the top two things I learned at the fairs:
- For aspiring software developers: it does not matter what kind of projects you work on, it just matters that you work on something you can make the most of. Go into details and try to make something special that showcases your varied skill set.
- One quality companies seek in prospective interns is originality and natural communication skills.
- As mentioned before, try to connect with the recruiters before applying for an internship as it drastically changes the probability of you getting it.
With all this new knowledge, I am prepared for next year to show up with an even better skillset to land a great internship through the DePaul career fairs of 2025!
Being a sophomore now at DePaul means that I have to start taking my resume seriously. One of the best ways to do that is to build credibility by interning at a company to gain hands-on experience to elevate my knowledge.
It might feel very daunting to simply apply for more than 50+ jobs online and hope for them to select you for the interview round – according to many recruiters I have spoken to, this is not even recommended. So, what should you do? Build connections!
I walked away with several LinkedIn profile connections who have promised to help me when I apply for them next year, and reassurance that recruiters at the end of the day are simply humans who are scouting for the people they want to work with the most.
However, this was not the end. For the first time, DePaul had tried something new: An Explore Careers event in Technology and Data. This event was more than just a career fair. It also incorporated a section where students could go and rehearse their elevator pitches, take professional headshots, review their resumes and even attend three highly helpful workshops which gave insight into the corporate work environment.
