All set up with booths of information, smiles on their faces and hand sanitizer on stand by for post handshake cleansing, company recruiters wait to network with students eager to begin working in their job fields. 

Career Services at NMU hosts four job fairs throughout the academic year, a fall, winter and summer fair as well as a construction management job fair. Quickly approaching is the 30th Annual Winter Semester Job Fair from 1-4 p.m. in the Northern Center on Wednesday, March 18. 

It’s never too soon to start going to job fairs even if a student isn’t currently looking for employment, the fair offers a good place for networking, said Director of Career Services Katie Korpi.

“As long as you go and you’re prepared and you don’t muddle your way through, you actually go with thought in mind,” Korpi said. “You can line up internships, just because they’re posting a full time position doesn’t mean they don’t have other opportunities outside of whatever they posted or they’re not willing to work with you to try to look at other possible options.” 

There are 64 companies registered to participate in the winter semester job fair. Some are local others are from downstate and some have larger connections outside of Michigan. A list of the companies registered can be found on Handshake under the winter semester job fair event page. 

“I think doing research on the companies beforehand is really huge,” Korpi said. “When you can have tangibles and talk to that recruiter not from a complete blank space, you have some background, you have some questions to ask, you’re prepared.”

Students can also register for the event on Handshake by selecting the ‘Join Event’ button. If students register online, go to the event and check in, they can be entered in a raffle to win a prize.

“We find that employers want to see student registrations because they want some reassurance we’re going to have people there,” Korpi said. “It can be a hard sell because people are nervous, they want to present their best selves, it’s very nerve wracking to go to a job fair.”

There are some things students can do to prepare to make the job fair less intimidating. 

“It’s good if you can bring a resume. Don’t just consider your paid experience and your education, make sure you’re listing volunteer work you’ve done, research you’ve done. Don’t sell yourself short,” Korpi said. “Great resumes encompass all of your experiences and there are ways to show your interests and all of those things on a resume.”

These job fairs can benefit the students in more ways than just providing career opportunities, they can also provide perspective. 

“They can help people better understand what the job looks like in real life,” Korpi said. “A lot of us have our assumptions. When you can talk to an employer and get information on what the job is really like, there’s nothing like it.”

Though it is important to be confident, a job fair is also a learning experience. 

“Don’t just walk up to the table and talk about yourself,” Korpi said. “You obviously want to approach that conversation with an opportunity to learn and make a real connection.”

Even if a career seems far down the line, it can be beneficial to start practicing how to market yourself as a person, student or candidate. 

“The companies really enjoy talking to our students. In fact they get sad if the students don’t talk to them. They want to connect with great candidates,” Korpi said. “It’s a networking opportunity in a lot of ways because you can make those relationships.”