The MSC program is structured for students who work full time. If that were the case for me, there’s little chance I would have attended last month’s Job Fair (or do anything else at Northwestern outside of attend classes on Saturdays). But since I’m currently part of the contingency workforce I was able to go, and I was very glad I did.

For anyone in the program hoping to change jobs or careers, the quarterly Job Fairs are a great opportunity to:

• Practice talking to employers
• Practice talking about yourself, your skills, and what you are interested in
• Get informal feedback on how well your resume and story are working
• Get introduced to employers you might never have known about or considered
• Get information on an industry or company you are interested in
• Have a professional photo taken for your social media profile(s)

After attending both days of the Fair, I encountered 100 employers. It was a very effective way to increase my exposure in the job market with a relatively small investment of time.

I found it good practice to not only have a list of employers I hoped to approach after doing my research, but also to approach recruiters who were just standing there not talking to anyone. They seemed to appreciate even casual interest, and it was extra practice for me.

The Job Fair is open to all students, so expect to be rubbing elbows with PhD and other masters candidates, as well as a slew of undergraduates. I’ve found this is a fact of using any of the University’s career services; graduate students are in the shuffle and will need to assert their needs. Many employers were recruiting for summer interns or graduating seniors but were happy to talk to me anyway.

The big consulting firms are very popular, and space is tight. Arriving early seemed to mitigate some crowding.

A room was provided for student coats where many attendees changed out of winter boots into dress shoes. Although I was initially reluctant to leave my bag in there, a pile of backpacks nonetheless formed. My experience on the second day was that it was totally safe to join them.

I signed up for one of the free photo booth sessions, happy to have an opportunity to get a recent photo of the “new me” transforming herself via graduate school. The result was underwhelming. Besides my flat hair and crooked glasses (I might have checked a mirror), it just doesn’t look like me. The image I want to project is not in that photo. So, although I didn’t get a useable photo, I learned a little bit about myself. Another benefit of the Job Fair.