How important are career fairs?
I haven't gone to any..
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Honestly, unless you want to go for the free food .
true..but can be helpful collecting business cards and networking purposes.
They also have very nice bags, I got a nice messenger bag that I used quite a bit.
Depends on your school and who will be there.
It is what you make of it. I think it's a good way to get some face time with recruiters and ask questions and show your interest. It's much easier to show that in person than on e-mail or phone
For networking purposes, info sessions seem to be much more useful than career fairs.
depends largely on the school and setup. If you spark up a conversation with someone there, it might be a good lead towards a foot in the door. More of an opportunity for you to talk to some people from the bank. If you're worried that no going will deter you from getting an offer, don't fret.
Don't listen to these people who say they're not important. At some firms, they're everything - especially this year.
My firm didn't give interviews to anybody who didn't come see us at the career fair AND to our information session. You've got to go, meet people, and make sure they remember your name.
In an environment like this, you need to do everything you can to rise above the pack - firms can afford to be extremely picky, and are just looking for reasons to cut people.
Is it important to attend your school's career fair? (Originally Posted: 09/11/2009)
...or are they just information sessions on a larger scale? Is there any benefit in giving recruiters your resume at the career fair vs submitting it online through your school's career services/jobs website? What are the chances a recruiter is going to recognize your face during an actual interview just because you spoke to him for 30 seconds at a career fair?
Nope, not important. The only way it could be useful is if you actually talk to the recruiter, get information, and talk about it during the interview to make it seem like you're more knowledgeable about the firm.
Only use is to talk to the reps (not recruiters) there and network. Try to get a couple of good contacts out of it, that's about it.
Has a school career fair gotten you anywhere? (Originally Posted: 02/12/2007)
Have any of you attended a school career fair that actually helped you in getting an internship or job?
yes it can definitely help you land an internship.. Which then gives you a bit of validation as a finance student/grad should you decide Ibanking is not for you.
With the above posts.
Most reputable firms will either retain intern talent or students are selected to interview with certain firms via some type of screening process. (that's the way it worked at my institution)
The highly sought after post-undergrad gigs usually don't "mass-market" so thats why.
Yes.
For internships they are useless (especially for IB). My school just had their career fair, but IB recruiting is nearly completed. Plus none of the banks even showed up. They are good for like big four or corporate.
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