Students speak with employer representatives at the 2014 Fall Job and Internship Fair.The annual Fall Job and Internship Fair, one of the signature events hosted by EMM’s
Career Center, brought 131 companies and over 1,100 job seekers to DePaul’s Lincoln Park Campus Oct. 9-10. The event gave DePaul students and alumni the opportunity to meet and network with the region’s top businesses and nonprofit organizations.
This year’s fair was extended from one to two days, allowing a record number of employers from a wide variety of industries to participate (up from 99 employers in 2013). The change in format resulted in record-level individual participation as well. A total of 1,167 unique job seekers attended, an increase of about 30 percent over last year.
In addition to increasing capacity, the Career Center offered support services to improve students’ experience at the event. Examples include:
- Partnering with C.H. Robinson, one of the employers participating in the fair, to offer a workshop the week before the fair called "Employer Insights: Prepare for the Fall Fair."
- Hosting a job fair orientation workshop the day before the fair.
- Offering 15-minute tours during the first hour of each day to familiarize students to the event.
- Staffing tables with Alumni Sharing Knowledge (ASK) volunteers to help students with résumés.
- Presenting a workshop titled "Tell Me About Yourself" to help students build confidence and make their best impression through practicing their introduction to employers.
Other special features of this expanded job fair included a panel presentation titled "Work That Matters," which focused on careers in the nonprofit and government sectors. Representatives from the U.S. Department of State, Peace Corps, City Year and the Center for Economic Progress shared information with students. Students also had the opportunity to have a professional photo taken for use on their LinkedIn profiles.
While placement outcomes are not yet available, there is anecdotal evidence that DePaul students and alumni made a great impression on the employers. MillerCoors and Kellogg’s were among the companies that held on-campus interviews in the subsequent weeks with students they met during the event.
For more information about the fair, contact
Amal Saleh, job fair and events manager in the Career Center.