I worked two virtual career fairs at local universities this week. Very different from in-person, and even different from the virtual fairs in October. The most important difference: there were far fewer students. Furthermore, far more of those who did show up had already completed at least one internship. More than I’ve ever seen before in the last 16 recruiting seasons (8 years).
Successful people do what unsuccessful people aren’t willing to do. Sometimes we imagine that difference involves tremendous sacrifice. Sometimes we may even suspect unsavory activities. In my experience, the difference is often far more pedestrian. Like, “showing up.”
I believe most students don’t know how they are going to transition from student to employee. It seems that those who have already found the path are getting more access through virtual than before. While the average student is falling further behind.
We’re hiring as many interns as we ever did: about 200 per year. Many companies had to pull back. We were able to switch to remote internships and keep pace. Most interns come in to get their hardware on their first day and never have to return to the building. Some of our interns are fully remote and we’ve shipped them their hardware. It’s a great time to get an internship.
Attending job fairs is harder for students now. The maxim has never been truer, “in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” Far fewer students are competing for face time with employers at fairs. Do yourself a favor and don’t give yourself a pass to not worry about it right now. The students that put in the effort to deal with the awkward platforms and make contact–those students are finding success while others are just… waiting.
Photo Credit: Ono Kosuki from Pexels
