UNH hosted their fourth annual Career and Internship Fair on Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the Whittemore Center Arena (Whitt) from 12-4 p.m., where attendees dressed in business formal attire with resumes in hand.
In the Whitt’s front lobby students formed a line while waiting for nametags before entering the fair. After scanning their student IDs, attendees were handed personalized nametags that included their full name, academic major and grade level.
Once inside, students were given a map of the kiosks that specified employers’ locations and listed the academic majors they’re looking to hire and offer internships to.
The career event, which has been the largest one yet, set up 194 kiosks of potential employers.
UNH Director of Employee Relations Raina Sarvaiya said that students selected these employers. “We ask our students who they want to see and then we reach out to them,” she said. Student feedback for the career fair is gathered via social media, conversations with academic advisors and direct requests to Career Services at the Peter T. Paul (Paul) College.
“We’ve sent emails to over 1,500 employers. We can’t guarantee they come, but we can invite them,” Sarvaiya said.
UNH aims for diversity in the invited companies. This year the fair hosted employers ranging from L.L. Bean to Homeland Security. There were many returning organizations, as well as some first timers.
The fair gives job-seeking students the opportunity to form connections and begin networking.
Junior political science major Joseph Gervolino said that he was looking to gain some contacts and connections. “I’m just trying to get my foot in the door. I’ve been looking for an internship. I was interested in about four or five companies that I’ve talked to,” he said.
Students weaved in and out of kiosk lines to talk to potential future employers and drop off their resumes. Employers distributed business cards in return. This exchange fosters the beginning of career networking for many UNH students.
Barton Associates, which has been coming to UNH’s career fair for years, explained the advantage that students get by meeting potential employers face-to-face.
“It’s nice to see people. You get to see their mannerisms in a casual way that’s different from the initial phone interview. It absolutely gives them an edge,” a Barton Associates recruiter said.
Companies such as Waban Projects, Fidelity Investments, Barton Associates and many other returning organizations have hired UNH students that attended the career fair with their resumes.
Once students had gone through the maze of kiosks and exchanged contact information with enough potential employers, they headed outside toward the Fidelity sponsored food cart, which was serving free tacos.
More networking and connections were formed outside as people exchanged business cards and chatted over tacos.
The UNH Career and Internship Fair is held twice a year, once in the fall and again in the spring. The spring fair has been set for Wednesday, March 1, 2017.