Snow Day: Prepare for next week!

Since you got your free pass from class thanks to Old Man Winter, how are you going to use your time? Sleep? Play video games? Study for your big test tomorrow? Here are 5 questions to ask yourself on this free day.

1.       Am I ready to introduce myself at career fairs next week? If you could use a little help, PWC has a great worksheet  for you to tweak your elevator pitch or introduction. And, check out the Career Spots video on The Elevator Pitch. You can practice your pitch using Interview Stream.

2.       Do I have a game plan for the employers I want to meet at career fairs? Visit the career fair site and create your target list of employers. Research them using LinkedIn, Google, or resources in the library. Create some questions to ask each employer.

3.       What will employers find if they google me? Have you ever googled yourself? You should. An employer who prepares to interview you will check out your online image. To make sure that image is professional, if you’re not on LinkedIn, work on your profile during this snowy day. Here are some tips to get you started. 

4.       What I will wear to the career fair? I’ve read several places, based on research done at NYU, that in 7 seconds people make 11 decisions about you. First impressions matter and appearance impacts our first impressions. You don’t have to wear a suit to the career fair (although you can if you want to look really professional), but you do want to dress a bit nicer than you might for class, wearing business casual attire. And, remember it’s BUSINESS casual not CLUB casual.

5.       Have I been outside? Take a break today and get outside and enjoy the snow. Build a snow man. Have a snowball battle. Go sledding. My favorite place to go sledding in Blacksburg when I was growing up was The Hill, the Blacksburg Municipal Golf Course. Great hills for sledding if you can make it there.

Need some more help as you gear up for a busy career fair week? Check out this infographic we posted in the fall.

Come see us in Career Services for Walk-In Advising, 12 – 3pm, Monday through Friday (when VT is open), or call 540-231-6241 to make an appointment with a career advisor.  All the best next week!

Now I need to get offline and go outside and play in the snow with my dog, Lexi.