Just in time for job offers

Janeal Downs
Staff Writer

VCU’s Career Center held the school’s first “Just in Time Career and Internship Fair” to showcase job and internship opportunities for students on Monday, April 14 in the Richmond Salons of the Student Commons.

At least 40 different businesses were present for the fair, most of them based in the Richmond area.

“(The fair is) really an opportunity for students who are graduating maybe to look for that first job, but at the same time students who are not graduating to find something part time for the summer, or internship, or something that can help build their experience,” said Brian Nicholas, career center communications coordinator.

Each business and organization present was looking for people to hire, and he even saw one business do on-the-spot interviews with some students, Nicholas said.

“It’s been pretty successful today,” Nicholas said. “One of the things we like about it, is it’s kind of our most diverse fair we have in terms of employers.”

Nicholas said all the opportunities presented at the fair are also posted on the HireVCURams  job search website.

“Our number one goal is for the students to come and learn a little bit more about what they want to do … just come and enjoy themselves and hopefully find something,” Nicholas said.

Among job and internship opportunities, job advice and paper to print resumes were also offered. Gala Jackson, owner and senior consultant of InterviewSnob, on Sunday held a two-hour workshop with about 30 students to prepare for the fair.

“InterviewSnob is a consulting boutique that is 100 percent virtual but based in Atlanta,” Jackson said. “We work with millennials and recent college graduates to help them land the jobs.”

InterviewSnob has helped people with resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles, salary negotiations and interviewing techniques for the last three years, Jackson said.

Jackson encouraged students to look at her website, Interviewsnob.com, and landthejob.tumblr.com for tips and advice.

“The best advice I can offer to a senior who’s graduating in May is networking,” Jackson said. “Get on LinkedIn and talk to professors about potential contacts that they have or ask parents friends and let them know what companies you’re looking for, what types of jobs (you want), and network.”

Senior biology major Tugce Karageyer attended the fair after hearing about it through an email he received from the career center.

“A lot of this seems business-based,” Karageyer said. “I’ve only found two places that kind of correlate to biology majors.”

Jessica Luck, a sophomore criminal justice major, also expressed some disappointment in opportunities for undergrads at the fair.

“I was trying to find internships, but I think this is mostly based around people who are about to graduate,” Luck said.

Luck said she wanted to attend the fair to search for job opportunities before she was a junior or senior.