Tag: Career Fair

By Natalie Googer, Clemson University Junior and Clemson Event Planners Association (CEPA) representative responsible for the career fair.

The Clemson Event Planners Association (CEPA) is a student organization that plans events and engages students with the professional community. I became interested in the organization my sophomore year when I decided to pursue a career in event planning after graduation. I am now the Event Coordinator on the Executive Board for the organization.

The CEPA executive board plans events, coordinates with other on campus organizations, and brings in speakers from the event industry. CEPA has given me the opportunity to meet professionals in the industry, such as Jennifer Dennis from Love This Little City Event Coordination and Samantha Radandt, who owns B & R Events.

Being the event coordinator for CEPA has given me many opportunities to expand my experience in event planning. One of these great experiences was planning the PRTM Career Fair. This opportunity gave me real world experience working with the university, as well as outside vendors.

The CEPA/PRTM Career, Internship and Camp Job Fair took place on February 17, 2020, however, this is a project I have been working on since the end of last school year (2019). Planning an event is a long and detailed process. Planning the career fair gave me experience in the full process of creating an event. One of the things that I love about event planning is finally seeing the event come to life after I have worked on all of the little details for months.

For the fair I worked with members of the PRTM faculty, university personnel, and outside vendors. I worked closely with the Student Event Coordinator for Campus Life, Aysia Cooper. Working with Aysia was a unique experience, because she is a PRTM student as well. I enjoyed getting to work on this event with her, and put into practice some of the things we have learned in the classroom together.

I was also in charge of student volunteers and marketing to students. Marketing an event such as a career fair to students is crucial for the event to be successful. I decided that the best ways to market to students would be flyers around campus, a presentation with video, and most importantly social media. With the help of the PRTM communications team, we created a video that talked about the importance of the career fair, and some tips on how to be successful at the fair.

We interviewed PRTM students from different concentrations to cover a variety of experiences. This video was then attached to a PowerPoint presentation that was emailed to students and to faculty to share at the beginning of classes leading up to the career fair. The goal of the presentation and video was to encourage students to go to the fair, and be prepared to make connections. We also featured parts of the video and other stories from the PRTM blog on the PRTM Facebook and Instagram accounts, because we believe that students pay the most attention to marketing via social media.

Marketing this event to students is another experience that I know will help me in my future career. Knowing how to target a specific audience and market to that audience is a key part of a successful event.

Overall, planning the PRTM Career Fair was a great experience for me. I got to use practices that I have learned in my PRTM classes and practicum experiences to put on an event to help other Clemson students. I am thankful I had the opportunity to plan this event through CEPA, and am excited for how this experience will help me in my future internships and career!

###

The CEPA/PRTM Career, Internship and Camp Job Fair is an annual event that helps students meet employers in the field and network for practicums, internships or job opportunities. Learn more about the career fair, including participating employers.

By Natalie Googer, Clemson University Junior and CEPA representative responsible for the career fair.

Taylor Stewart is a senior PRTM major at Clemson University, with a concentration of Travel and Tourism. She attended the career fair last year and the connections she made helped her get a job as a fitness instructor at The Cliffs.

How did the career fair help you find your summer job at The Cliffs?

I originally did some research on The Cliffs (just looking for potential jobs that I would consider applying for in the future) and I saw them at the career fair, so I just went to discuss the job opening I saw that I was interested in (event management). The representative from The Cliffs was the head of the Health and Wellness department, so that struck a conversation about how I was about to get certified in group fitness and he got me connected with the right people to follow up with about teaching classes with The Cliffs.

How do you feel your practicums and internships have/will prepare you for your future career?

This didn’t necessarily help me get an internship, but this job has given me a lot of experience in the field, which will help getting a job in the future.

How did you follow up with The Cliffs after the fair?

Ryan from the career fair sent my information to the wellness leader of the Keowee Springs location, who is now my boss.

Why do you think going to the career fair is important?

I think it gives good exposure to talk to professionals and learn how to carry on a professional conversation. It allows students to practice how to “market” themselves to potential employers.

What is your advice for someone going to the fair looking for a job or internship?

Do research about the business you’re interested in before hand, so that you have something to start a conversation. They will also be impressed that you did the prep-work, and it shows good leadership.

###

The CEPA/PRTM Career/Internship and Camp Job Fair is on Monday, February 17 between 9:30AM and 1:00PM on the second floor of the Hendrix Center. Read more about the career fair, including which organizations are participating.

Grace Graves credits a career fair, and one of her Clemson professors, for helping her find her first job in the hotel and service industry. 

Grace graduated from Clemson University in 2017 as part of the first cohort with departmental honors for her major in parks, recreation and tourism management (PRTM). Although she had a job when she graduated, it was with an employer she almost didn’t connect with at a career fair organized by the department. 

“I had done all of my research on the companies I wanted to talk to before the career fair, but when I got there, I didn’t find anything I was super excited about,” she says. “I ran into one of my professors on the way out and told him I was feeling discouraged, and he encouraged me to talk to a hotel development and management company that had been added at the last minute.” 

Grace was a bit nervous to approach an organization she hadn’t researched in advance, but when she realized their representative was based near her home in downtown Spartanburg, they fell into easy conversation. Although they didn’t have any opportunities for her at the corporate office, the company was building a new hotel in downtown Spartanburg that needed people. She was encouraged to talk to the staff on site. 

“I wasn’t sure about approaching this organization at first because I didn’t know anything about hotels, but I did it anyway,” she says. “I’m so glad I did, because that conversation turned into a job that taught me so much – and that took me through the process of building a hotel from the ground up.” 

Grace started as an operations and sales intern. After her internship was complete, they hired her as their sales coordinator and soon promoted her to sales manager. The job gave her experience working with the area’s Convention and Visitors’ Bureau and Chamber of Commerce, and helped her apply her learning in several different PRTM areas of focus, such as tourism, events, sales, community relations and management. 

Although she’s since left the organization for a job in the higher education industry, she remains on good terms with her former employer and is interested in getting back into the service and hotel industry at some point. 

Grace says that career fairs are important, because they prepare students for real world interactions in a professional setting. She encourages students to talk to their professors both before and after the event, as they have valuable advice about how to make industry connections. She also says it’s important to ask for business cards and to contact the people you met after the event is over. 

Grace’s other career fair tips include: 

• Buy an “interview” outfit before the event that feels comfortable and professional. 
• Review the list of employers that are attending and highlight your top choices. Use a different color to highlight other organizations to talk to if you still have time. 
• Research each employer that you plan to speak with. Find three facts about the organization, and write three questions in advance. You can also brainstorm a short, relevant story about yourself that relates to the company or its goals. 
• Bring your printed resume and a notepad. You can also use your phone to take notes, but make sure you ask if they’re comfortable with you taking notes first. 
• Smile and have a firm handshake. Be confident and sell yourself. 
• Follow up with either a thank you note or quick email the same day, and make sure you refer to something that you spoke about so that they will remember your name and face. 

Above all, Grace says, it’s important to be open to ideas, experiences and opportunities. Career fairs give students opportunities that simply aren’t available after they graduate, and keeping an open mind can open doors to something unplanned, but rewarding. 

“Career fairs are a real, live in-person LinkedIn,” she says. “You’ll never get that many organizations in the same place again. The connections you make may not lead to something right away, but if you continue to take advantage of these opportunities, you’ll start to see doors start to open up for you over time.”

###

The CEPA/PRTM Career/Internship and Camp Job Fair is on Monday, February 17 between 9:30AM and 1:00PM on the second floor of the Hendrix Center. Read more about the career fair, including which organizations are participating.