Each fall and spring semester the MSU Career Center sponsors Career Day to give students the opportunity to network with hundreds of employers and recruiters. This semester’s Career Day will be in the Humphrey Coliseum on Tuesday, Jan. 28, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The Career Center asked recruiters for tips to help students make a good impression for Career Day at Mississippi State University.
Lisa Bledsoe, an electrical engineer at Phase IV in Huntsville, Ala., who will be attending Career Day, believes that the best way for a student to make an impression is to research and study the company.
“Know what the company does, even if it is just one idea about the company,” Bledsoe said.
Laura Neill, Millsaps College’s assistant director of graduate admissions agreed with Bledsoe’s tip when recruiting business and accounting majors.
“I love it when I’m talking with someone, and they say, ‘I was looking at your Web site.’ It shows me they are interested, and they did their homework,” Neill said.
Frank Hardie, a staff recruiter at Youth Village at Memphis, Tenn., who hires students to work with troubled children, explained that having a resumZ at Career Day leaves a good, lasting impression with potential employers.
“We try to remember their faces, but they should leave a good, solid resumZ behind so we can remember a particular candidate,” Hardie said. “Having someone who has the desire and character is as important as having great grades,” Hardie said.
Alisa Harrison, the assistant director at Camp Skyline in Mentone, Ala., recruits female students during the summer to work with children.
Harrison looks for energetic women who come up to the table and ask questions about the position and the camp.
Hardie encourages students to talk with recruiters who do not have available job positions.
Lisa Buckner, senior coordinator for Career Services, suggests students attend Career Day dressed in business casual attire.
Buckner encourages students to get some work experience from either co-ops or summer work because it will benefit a student’s job search.
“Work-experienced students are hired first. Younger students, with the economy the way it is, need to start,” Buckner said.
“Be assertive. Extend your hand. Go on-line and do research. Present a 30-second presentation on yourself to employers.”
“Show enthusiasm toward the company,” Buckner said.
Buckner encourages students to be aware of behaviors to avoid, such as going to companies in groups, having poor eye contact, not being prepared or being negative about themselves.
The number of companies attending this semester’s Career Day has fallen almost 66 percent because of the economy. Students in technical or business fields have massive employing departments and can afford to come to MSU to recruit, while other concentrations cannot, Buckner said.
“For these students, Career Services are having presentations on job search seminars to help student research for jobs,” Buckner said.
“The dates and times for these presentations are available on the Web site, and e-mails will be sent to all students in those colleges,” Buckner said.
Career Services will host a resumZ clinic, where students can bring their resumZs and get immediate attention on Jan. 21-23 from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. on the second floor of the Colvard Union. For more information, call 325-3344.