UCI Division of Career Pathways (DCP) kicked the year off with its quarterly “In-Person Career Fair” on Ring Road. Recruiters and UCI students gathered on Oct. 3 to network and discuss internship opportunities and academics.
Nearly 100 recruiters pitched booths at the fair, including representatives from the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), American Airlines, and the County of Orange. Students were encouraged to prepare for the fair by attending DCP’s drop-in hours for resume reviews and to discuss fair etiquette.
On the day of the fair, students came with printed resumes to hand out to recruiters and dressed in formal attire, which included business casual outfits and suits with ties. Students gathered in lines at recruiters’ booths to obtain brochures and business cards.
DCP also offers resume workshops, networking strategies and internship or job search services for graduate and undergraduate students, and professional headshots, free of charge.
DCP Marketing Program Manager Kimberly Chai is in charge of managing and executing all fair-related marketing initiatives.
“We’ve been planning on the career fairs for a long time. I mean, we really start planning almost like a year in advance,” Chai told New University. ”If you’ve never been, you can just go and attend with no pressure — just have some questions to ask the employer.”
Quill & Arrow LLP, a law office specializing in car accidents, participated in the fair. Legal Operations Manager Cody Spencer was in charge of the booth and attested to the opportunities afforded through networking at the fair.
“My assistant, who is absolutely incredible, is from UC Irvine in the criminology program. I absolutely love her, so if I can get more students like that, I can never complain,” Spencer said.
For many undergraduates, this event was their first career fair experience. Second-year civil engineering major Alfonso Vidrio spoke about their fair experience.
“I think it’s a really good opportunity for people who are in STEM, or just in general, looking for any career because [the fair] opens up doors and it makes you connect with people…it helps me guide what I want to do and what exactly I want to do in life,” Vidrio said.
Chai encourages students to attend career fairs early on to set the foundation for their job and internship searches.
“All students — undergrad and graduate students as well — have a really great opportunity to take advantage of these free resources they have while a student at UCI,” Chai said.
For students feeling lost career-wise, Chai encourages them to make a visit to DCP for additional guidance.
“I would advise students to take advantage of all our workshops and drop-in career counseling that we have at the DCP,” Chai said. “We have workshops… like different tips on how to present themselves to employers, what they need to have on their resume, what kind of questions to ask employers, and how to develop their own elevator pitch.”
The DCP will host an In-Person STEM Career Fair on Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. inside the UCI Student Center. Registration is now available on Handshake.
Felipe Juarez Molina is a News Intern for the fall 2024 quarter. He can be reached at juarezmf@uci.edu.
Edited by Karen Wang and Jaheem Conley