Sacred Heart Career Expo

Written by Augustus Pfisterer
Staff Writer

On Wednesday Oct. 3, the Sacred Heart University Career & Professional Development department hosted a career expo in the William H. Pitt Center.

The career expo is designed to encourage early networking with industry professionals both for post-graduate positions and internships while attending Sacred Heart.

“All the companies and employers were very helpful and informative in regards to potential jobs they were offering at the time. I found the event to be very useful and would recommend any future events to all students,” said Sacred Heart University junior Ryan Tager.

“We try to make sure that we have a wide variety of companies represented at the career expo, so that students from all disciplines will have potential employers to speak with. Our employers this year included IBM, Vineyard Vines, Yale New Haven Hospital, TraceyLocke, FBI, and Morgan Stanley,” said Associate Director, Center for Career & Professional Development Corey Stokes.

This year the career expo had well over 100 employers attend the event to recruit students.

“The best way to stick out at the Career Expo is to just make sure you prepare and do your research on the companies you are planning on speaking with. It is important to be aware of the company’s initiatives, goals, new projects, and their leadership/employees. Having a student step up to an employer and ask a specific question about their opportunities or the company in general is incredibly impressive,” said Stokes.

“We don’t reach out to people we’re looking for the people that approach us. We want people to be confident and eye contact is very important because you just have to sell yourself,” said Sacred Heart University Alum 15’ and State Farm recruiter Sarah Connor.

The list of companies that attended the career expo can be found on the app “Career Fair Plus”, where students can download from either the Apple app store or Google Play store.

“The app will also tell students more about the companies and what positions they are recruiting for,” said Stokes.

“The different opportunities that were presented at the fair from all the different companies opened my mind to new angles that I can not concentrate on pursuing in marketing,” said Sacred Heart University junior Greg Blohm.

However, the career expo is not the only event Career & Professional development department has planned.

“[In] October alone, we have so many awesome events planned including an Internship Search and Interview Prep Workshops, a Law School Panel, and a meet and greet with FactSet and Boehringer Ingelheim. We are also hosting 8 employers for on-campus interviews, which are by invitation only for our students! We also plan to host industry-specific events in the spring based on feedback we receive from our student survey,” said Stokes.

Additionally, the Career & Professional development department provides assistance in finding internships, along with resume writing, cover letter writing, interviewing and job search skills development.

The main office is located on the second floor of McMahon Commons, which is directly above the bookstore.

“I go to career development once a month. They have done mock interviews with me and have helped me make connections. They have made me feel more confident when going out for interviews,” said Sacred Heart University junior Krista Costanza.

In 2017, 98% of the students that graduated are either employed or pursuing graduate and/or professional school.

“Take advantage of the opportunities that SHU provides you! We have so many programs and opportunities available for our students, that if you take advantage of them you will have no problem finding a job! Remember to not procrastinate either create a resume your freshman year, work on building it up with relevant experiences your sophomore and junior year, and then senior year you can concentrate on a strong internship, as well as job applications and networking,” said Stokes.

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