With graduation just over two months away, senior Cameron Kane, like many of his classmates, was looking forward to the University Advising and Career Center's annual Career and Internship Fair, which was going to be held on Monday, March 2.
This year's event, however, was rescheduled due to a snowstorm that also closed the university.
The rescheduled event, to be held Tuesday, March 31, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Granite State Room, will be missing several of the employers originally scheduled to appear. These employers, including Consolidated Electrical Distributors, Weston & Sampson Engineers, and others, were unable to adjust their spring recruitment schedules to accommodate the postponed event.
Instead, Becky Shost, the UACC's employer relations coordinator for on-campus recruiting, has compiled digital résumé books of 208 eligible seniors to send to employers unable to attend the event. She has categorized the résumé books by academic college and distributed them to the appropriate employers.
The career fair, an opportunity for graduating seniors to meet with prospective employers, arrange interviews and submit résumés, draws hundreds of students each year and nearly 100 employers.
Kane, a communications major, said the résumé books don't compare to meeting a recruiter in person. He worries that not being able to make a solid first impression may be a disadvantage for him and other students.
"It's a toss in the dark really," said Kane, who is hoping to find a job either in creative advertising or public relations after graduation. "I'm just a piece of paper right now, so it's a little disheartening."
Hugh Hayward, a recruitment representative for the Connecticut Department of Transportation, one of the companies unable to attend the event, said he believes most employers don't factor in encounters at career fairs when making employment decisions.
"Obviously we like to meet students face to face, but really it depends on the interview and the reference checks," said Hayward.
Hayward said résumés at the Department of Transportation are entered into a database, making it easy for the staff to search for applicants with specific degrees or experience. Because of this, the agency welcomed the idea of a digital résumé book, which is similar to the system already in place at the department and many other large firms.
Shost acknowledged students' concerns, but agrees with Hayward. She stressed that any employers not attending the career fair will be taking the digital résumé book seriously.
"The hard thing about rescheduling is a company books its recruiting schedule way in advance but they are looking forward to the résumé bundles and will still be contacting students," she said.
While an updated directory of companies attending the event hasn't yet been made available to students, Shost estimated about 80 of the original 100 firms will have representatives at the event.
"The good thing is we still have a lot of diversity in the companies that are coming so it's not all just one type," said Shost. "Obviously we're trying to do the best we can because there won't be the same number of companies."
Shost said the companies in attendance represent a broad array of fields, including nonprofits, health and human services, business, engineering, and life sciences. She said she hopes students will attend the event whether or not they have already submitted a résumé.
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