USC's Fall Career Fair
By Lauren Brose ‘15
I was in desperate need of a new bike lock last spring and found one after browsing USC’s “Free & For Sale” Facebook page. I met outside of campus with a student who was coincidentally also studying Public Relations in Annenberg and we immediately began to talk about our plans for summer (I was starting my first internship and she was starting her first job following graduation). I asked her for advice on how I too can lock in a full-time position upon gradation.
She gave me a valuable piece of advice that I immediately took and have since then noticed monumental changes. She said that she was once in my position before (clueless) and learned that she wasted way too much of her time at USC worrying about the future and never acting on it before figuring out that after all this time the answer was in front of her face. All she needed as a push in the right direction was making an appointment to visit the Career Center on campus. That push eventually led her to a full-time career.
The Career Center at USC offers a number of resources made available to all students of all majors. It is located in the Student Union building, and students can make appointments with a career advisor to review their resumes and cover letters, and also receive career advice Monday-Friday from 8:30am-5:00pm. They also have walk-in hours Monday-Friday from 11:30AM - 3:30PM.
Yesterday, the Career Center hosted the Fall Career Fair along Trousdale Parkway, which included 162 employers from a variety of industries. Approximately 3,200 registered students attended the event and were able to not only network with potential future employers but also freshen up their LinkedIn profiles with complimentary head shots.
The Career Center also awarded the 2,000th registered student with an informational interview with Amazon and General Mills. Upon arrival, students were handed a thick booklet containing information regarding each attending company. Since all professional trades are mixed into one career fair, students can visit www.careers.usc.edu and log on to ConnectSC to filter out the careers that are irrelevant to their area of study.
Throughout the year, the Career Center hosts a plethora of events that relate to students of all majors. They send out weekly e-newsletters informing the student body of specific companies that are visiting campus for panels and internship presentations. They dedicate an entire week each semester solely to meeting industry professionals upon receiving internships. Additionally, the Career Center offers hour long workshops that target the major areas of career development including resume & cover letter writing, interviewing, job search strategies, online presence & social media, preparing for the career fair and offer evaluation & negotiation.
Their website is easy to navigate and includes an up-to-date calendar of events that announces when certain companies are stopping by USC’s campus and when there are seminars that teach career-building skills, such as how to make a lasting first impression (9/22) or how to craft an effective elevator pitch (9/22).
Considering how connected USC is in terms of networking and also the amount of effort companies make to reach out to our graduating class with full-time job offers, it would be an incredibly wasteful mistake to not take advantage of the amazing things that our Career Center has to offer.
USC Career Center
Student Union 110
Los Angeles, CA 90089-4897
careers@usc.edu
213-740-9111
Hours: M-F 8:30AM-5:00PM (appointments)
Walk-in Hours: M-F 11:30AM-3:30PM
– Lauren Brose
