What I learned from planning, then attending a Career Fair

As my graduate school assistantship, I worked with a phenomenal team at Mizzou to plan and execute a department-wide Career Fair with 42 companies present.

Our PR team that planned the event on Feb. 14, 2013- me, Marissa, Barbara, Susan and Sam

It was incredibly fulfilling for a multitude of reasons, learning that:

• Our team gained a lot of industry knowledge by planning the event, knowing a variety of advertising agencies, their size and each company's knowledge and specialties 
• Email etiquette is a life skill - craft these messages carefully!
• Learning the role of HR and how a company recruits new employees is incredibly important, so you know the best way "in" when you are interested
• It's important to build a relationship with every person you meet, because you'll cross paths again
• Lastly, event planning isn't as glorious as you think - and logistics are not a skill everyone has. 

As part of my company's campus recruiting team for Mizzou, I then had the opportunity to attend the Career Fair I once planned.

Taylor and I representing Starcom at the Strategic Communication Career Fair this past February 2014

Me with this year's PRAEs that we interviewed and hired to run the event and serve on Mojo Ad

Being on the other side of things, I learned a whole different set of lessons job-seekers should consider:

• Do something to stand out from the crowd
• Research companies, open positions and industry press around them before you speak to any recruiters
• Juniors in college are not always confident in what they want to do after graduation 
• Don't put something on your resume if you weren't there for very long and can't confidently speak to how you and your work enhanced their organization 
• Recruiters enjoy talking to students, so make it enjoyable for them! 

With campus recruiting season kicking off again this year, all these lessons came top-of-mind and I realized how lucky I was to have both of these opportunities. I'm looking forward to more successful recruiting efforts this year and helping prospective employees find a company they like!