The Career Center at Notre Dame will host the annual Fall Career Expo in the Joyce Center on Wednesday and Thursday from 4 p. m. through 8 p.m.
The event will be attended by 277 organizations, said Hilary Flanagan, director of the Career Center. The first day will be focused on engineering and internship opportunities and the second day on full-time positions and post-graduate service opportunities. Flanagan said students can access detailed information on these organizations via GO IRISH, the Career Center’s recruiting database.
According to Flanagan, a major goal of the Fall Career Expo is to help make the job, internship or volunteer search more accessible to students.
“Too often in the job search, it feels like you are sending your application materials into a black hole,” Flanagan said. “The Fall Career Expo is a chance to interact with representatives from these organizations who are excited about the prospect of hiring ND students to join their organizations for internships and full-time positions. Many of the representatives are ND alumni, and they will be wearing ribbons that designate them as such. They are so excited to come back to campus and share with our current students their experiences.”
Flanagan said the Career Center hopes to help all students, not just seniors, with this event. She said the Backstage Pass Program is designed specifically for students who are attending the Career Fair for the first time. Students participating in the program can arrive an hour early to the Career Fair and get to hear from recruiters in an informal space about how to make the most of their time, she said.
The Career Center is also providing students with appropriate attire, for free, to wear to the Fall Career Expo or to interviews with the inauguration of the Career Center Clothes Closet, Flanagan said.
“We were really excited that the ND community pulled together to allow us to host a Clothes Closet for the first time this year,” she said. “[Interview Center coordinator] Sarah Himschoot has led the effort through the Career Center to coordinate receipt of donations of gently used or brand new interviewing attire for our students. Many students are not able to afford additional attire for interviewing or attending career networking events where business or business casual attire is expected. Also, we have students who have left their interview attire at home or simply do not have enough for the amount of events they might need to attend in one week.”
For students looking to prepare for the Fall Career Expo, Flanagan said she recommends researching the organizations that will be in attendance on GO IRISH. She also said students need to have a good attitude going into the fair.
“Students need to remember to relax, be focused, smile and be prepared to follow up with employers after the event,” she said.
