BC Hosts Annual Career Fair

Students gain networking experience at career fair.

Last week, the Boston College Career Center hosted the 2010 Career Fair in Conte Forum. Preceded by an AHANA reception in the Yawkey Athletic Center, the Career Fair welcomed BC students from all majors to explore the wide variety of career options available for them to pursue. Sponsored by ICAP and Liberty Mutual, the Boston College Career Fair offered students the opportunity to visit nearly one hundred prospective employers to discuss both job and internship opportunities. Representatives from multiple Boston College Graduate programs were also on hand to provide additional information on other programs available to students.

The Career Fair was intended for both students who have a clear vision of their future plans and those who are uncertain of their future career direction. The Career Center offered advice to students on how to approach each potential employer and what important questions students should ask to get the most out of the experience. They also offered strategies to connect with employers in the future and what steps should be taken after the Career Fair in order to follow up with possible employers students may have connected with during the event. The Career Center staff members were also on hand at the Career Center Information table, handing out packets of information about each of the prospective employers and offering help to any student who might have had questions.

Jacqueline Valenza, A&S ’12, was impressed by her first visit to the BC Career Fair saying, “The career fair was very well-organized and I was actually impressed how many different companies were there to recruit BC students.”

Although there were a wide variety of organizations present at the Career Fair, the majority were accounting, consulting and finance firms. Representatives from the Big Four Accounting firms, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PWC, were all in attendance as well as individuals from Barclays, BNY Mellon, Fidelity, Liberty Mutual, UBS and John Hancock. Many other businesses such as computer software manufacturer Hewlett-Packard and whole sale trader TJX Companies, Inc. were also present to offer students insight into the growing technology industry as well as the ever evolving retail industry. Companies from across all management disciplines gave students interested in working in the business world the opportunity to investigate specific specialties, such as accounting or marketing. The Career Center provided students interested in entering the business world the occasion to meet with people from some of the most influential and successful financial institutions in the world today. Even in the present economy, these companies are looking for future interns and employees.

In addition, many non-profit organizations and education programs were represented at the Career Fair for students interested in a different career path than business.

The Boston College graduate programs were also exceedingly popular for many of the students interested in continuing their education through either a master’s program or law school. Representatives from various government agencies were also on hand to offer yet another career path; either in the US military or other US governmental agencies including the FDIC and the FBI. The Volunteer and Service Learning Center provided yet another career option with information on volunteer programs.

Steve Dejute summarized the Career Fair experience by declaring, “The career fair introduced me to a lot of different companies and career options that I had never previously considered before.”

The Career Fair is the first of many events sponsored by the Boston College Career Center this year. Other Career Center Events this fall include Resume and Cover Letter Workshops, Interview Workshops, Law School Admissions Process Panel Discussion, Post-Graduate Volunteer and Human Services Fair, and How to Find A Great Internship. The Career Center will also be hosting other programs aimed towards specific areas of interest this fall including a Career Night for the Arts and a Communications Career Information Exchange.

The Career Center works with all BC students and schools in providing any assistance when finding a job or internship that interests the student and builds upon their work at Boston College.

Students can meet with a career advisor or speak to BC alumni in the Career Network at the Career Center in order to learn about a specific field of interest or to further pursue an internship or job opportunity.

Visit the Career Center at 38 Commonwealth Ave or for more information on upcoming events visit http://www.bc.edu/careers/.

Related Articles: