Expectations vs. Experience So, what is Career Consultation Day? Well here’s a nice explanation of it offered officially by the school: Marist undergraduate students can schedule a 30-minute appointment with an employer representative (including Marist alumni) and use that time for a resume or cover letter critique, or as an opportunity to discuss their career plans with a knowledgeable professional. Employers from a number of different career fields attend. Although this is not a recruiting event, employers have been known to follow up afterward with students who show promise for their internships or jobs, so students should dress professionally. And here’s my interpretation of it: you dress up in your fanciest clothing, you smooth out those wrinkles, you print out a few fresh copies of your resume, and you stare into the mirror, giving yourself a pep talk, before coming over to meet with real, living, breathing business professionals to talk about, well, the rest of your life. No big deal, heh? Right? *Nervous laughter* But, all that aside, it’s an important thing to do, and a promising step toward clarity regarding your future, and so, I took the plunge and signed up for not just one, but TWO slots with different companies – one with Ability Beyond and one with Monkfish Publishing – to pursue two completely different interests of mine. To do this, you must log in to FoxQuest at http://marist-csm.symplicity.com/sso/students/ and click on “events” and “career programs” and sign up for the company and time slot that works best for you. The rest, my friend, is up to you. DAY BEFORE – Expectations: If I didn’t start this out by saying that I expect to be properly sweaty by the end of the day, then I would just be fooling myself and anyone reading this. Like, they can turn up the AC all they want, but I’m still gonna perspire. It’s a gift. Moving on to the real stuff, though, I expect that I’m probably going to feel a little uncomfortable at first, until I can feel out the person I’m talking to and how they’ll react to what I have to say or ask. First encounters are always nerve-wracking, whether it’s your freshman year roomie, your economics professor, or a businessperson. Furthermore, I am currently very lost on how I want my future to play out, so it’s not even like I’ll have affirmative answers for questions about where I want to be, or where I see myself at this time next year. Ideal, no. Realistic, yes.
But that’s the whole point of this workshop, is it not? To search what different avenues have to offer, to get a taste for what’s out there, to speak my mind and not (completely) be judged for it. I may not know what job I want, but the only way to figure it out is to talk with people who understand these feelings best, as business professionals often go through a period of uncertainty, too. After all, they are human. And, quite frankly, they’d be the best people to let me know why they picked the career that they did, and why they’re happy with it, and why I might be, too. Until then, I’ve got a lot of research and resume face work to do. DAY AFTER – Experience: So, I did it. The grown-up thing. I walked on over to the library in my adult flats with my adult outfit and my adult smile, and I adulted my way through each of the sessions, talking about my interests, my concerns, my questions, and my current feelings. And I’m not gonna lie – it was pretty cool. In both of my meetings, it never felt like there was pressure to perform or to answer questions smoothly. Now, granted, I did go into this with a bit of background knowledge on both companies, which is definitely something I highly recommend everyone take some time to do. After all, if you don’t know what their company is all about, how can you hold a serious and worthwhile conversation? In regard to the actual meetings themselves, after signing in, I was led to the room where the employer was sat waiting, and upon walking in, I shook their hands and introduced myself. Some employers had interns with them or former Marist students, and some of the representatives themselves were Marist alumni (like my first appointment, who also happened to be one of the female rugby coaches!). Once introductions were done, I basically explained who I was and what I am hoping to do with my future, which is very much up in the air right about now, but I have a few things floating around that I wanted to discuss. I then got to learn more about what each company did and what they offered as far as job opportunities and growth, and also what it was like to work there and be a part of their team. The first appointment I had was at 1 with an organization called Ability Beyond that helps set up programs for people with special needs, something I spent my entire summer doing, and the second appointment was with a self-publishing company called Monkfish at 1:30. Though my experiences were unique and your experiences will be different depending on which companies you choose to sign up for, I can absolutely speak to the fact that they were both extremely helpful. Helpful in the sense that they calmed my nerves by giving me more experience talking to professionals and being, well, professional myself, and also helpful because I learned more about what the working environments of both fields are like, different as they may be. Whatever your major, whatever your age, if you have room in your schedule the next time this event rolls around (it usually happens during the first month of the semester), I implore you to definitely consider signing up for it. If you make a fool of yourself, no one will know and you won’t have to return or see the employer ever again, but – hey – if it goes well, then you could potentially get an internship or an interview. In today’s day and age, that’s the equivalent of one of those golden tickets Willy Wonka was handing out. Seriously. Don’t keep those doors shut. Network, network, network. And when the network comes to your very own library, there’s really no reason you should be saying anything other than “sign me up!” And if you sign up, make sure you go. Because, after all, there’s no point in networking if you’re a no-show.
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