Attended my first ever career fair today

[ThatStateOfMind]

I attended a career fair today, and I think it went okay. I talked to much less recruiters than I anticipated as it was very draining and not many employers were recruiting for Comp Sci. I went to the companies I spoke to websites and only one had a position open for CS majors. That one had multiple open so I applied to 3 which were within 2 hours drive, though I'll probably move for the summer if I actually get it. I'm not getting my hopes up though as I'm nearing 50 applications with no interviews currently.

It was a strange experience, seeing so many people and so many companies crammed into the arena. I was completely drained of my social battery and left after I talked to the last recruiter I was interested in speaking to. I was so drained that I skipped my next class. I don't skip classes often, but I literally felt incapable of going to this one and I knew that even if I showed up, I wouldn't be paying much attention. After I gathered myself and calmed down, I was able to attend the following class and it was business as usual for the rest of the day following.

There's not much to say beyond that, I am just glad I survived a career fair. Even though I printed off WAY too many resumes, I'm not unhappy with the outcome. I feel I can be better prepared for the next career fair now that I have a better idea of what to expect.

 

[CallmeWill4719]

I think of all the times I made excuses not to go to that stuff, whether it would be a waste of time or not. So good for you for going to one! Computer science is pretty competitive from what I hear but I wonder how different that is from any occupation.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

I'm glad you went there!

I agree, sending out so many applications with no avail is so draining. Imo it's important to tailor your CV exactly to what they ask for in the job ad. It'd be worth a try to "lie" about qualifications and experience (don't get me wrong!) but it'd be interesting if they replied to it at least for a first interview if the CV looks almost perfect for the job.

Here's an interesting thread about job applications:

What do they even do with job applications?

Burn them? Throw them in the garbage? With how long I've been applying, it feels like that's what they do. I send in applications maybe every other day. I've been at it for months, and it's all low pay entry level wageslave bullshit, but I don't even get so much as a rejection call out of...

sanctioned-suicide.net

 

[ThatStateOfMind]

I think of all the times I made excuses not to go to that stuff, whether it would be a waste of time or not. So good for you for going to one! Computer science is pretty competitive from what I hear but I wonder how different that is from any occupation.

I try not to dwell too much on thoughts like that. I find myself doing it, even today. As I could have spoken to more employers, but I can't change that now.

Thank you though! Computer Science is extremely competitive. I didn't realize that going into it, but I pretty quickly learned. I do enjoy the material though, so I'm continuing with it I guess? I know there's also always the option to pivot and since I'm graduating without student loans (luckily), it's not as important to me to stay in the field if I can't break into it.

Don't quite know what I'd pivot to, so I'd have to explore after graduation if CS doesn't pan out. Trying to keep a stoic perspective in that if I'm not chosen, it's not really something I can control so I need to focus my energy on things I can control.

I'm glad you went there!

I agree, sending out so many applications with no avail is so draining. Imo it's important to tailor your CV exactly to what they ask for in the job ad. It'd be worth a try to "lie" about qualifications and experience (don't get me wrong!) but it'd be interesting if they replied to it at least for a first interview if the CV looks almost perfect for the job.

Here's an interesting thread about job applications:

What do they even do with job applications?

Burn them? Throw them in the garbage? With how long I've been applying, it feels like that's what they do. I send in applications maybe every other day. I've been at it for months, and it's all low pay entry level wageslave bullshit, but I don't even get so much as a rejection call out of...

sanctioned-suicide.net

Thank you!

It's just hard to lie on my resume because the only thing I could really lie about is what tech I know, and that can easily be disproven in an interview, unfortunately. I will say that I do embellish accomplishments slightly, but I feel like most people embellish on a resume anyways.

And the only way to get through the automatic resume check that most companies do is put buzz words in your resume but again, the job is targeting specific tech that I simply don't know yet. Even most internships seem to want high level knowledge of some tech concepts and technology. Out of ~40 internships I've applied to, only one that seems even slightly did alright in that I got referred to a hiring manager but that was almost a month ago and I haven't receive any further contact. It was for a federal job so maybe it'll take some time but I imagine I've been passed in favor of other candidates.