Twice a year, Grand Valley State University hosts the Career and Internship Fair on the Grand Rapids Pew campus. This winter’s fair gave students the opportunity to network, connect with employers and learn about a variety of jobs, co-ops and internships.

With over 230 employers, students and alumni are given the opportunity to practice professional networking skills using tools such as their resumes and cover letter. 

“It’s a good place to get career research, even for early-on students that are more like career explorers,” said Meghan Veltri, assistant director of the Career Center. 

Employers from all over the state were looking for students to show initiative and be willing to learn and make new connections. 

“I think employers like Grand Valley students because they are pretty hard-working, they’re very social at those events,” Veltri said. “We’ve heard from employers that really like coming to the fair because they like working with our students.”

The Career Center is well aware that the timing and location of the career and internship fair does not work for all students, which is why the center puts on a number of other events throughout the year that take place both on the Allendale campus and the DeVos campus. 

“Handshake would be another tool where students can connect with employers if they weren’t able to attend the fair and they wanted to connect with recruiters that were there,” Veltri said. 

Veltri said LinkedIn is another platform that students can use to send messages to employers. 

The Career Center has the contact information of all the employers that attend the fairs so students can follow up with them separately. The companies that attended the fair are also listed online. 

The Career Center also offers laker podcasts that students can listen to for insight on preparing to speak with employers and following up afterward. 

“I think a lot of times students are just feeling really nervous about how to get started and we can definitely appreciate that,” Veltri said. “So we would just tell them to come in and we will do step-by-step things that you could do to help prepare for your career. We know it can be scary, but just taking a couple steps each semester will really help students to move forward.”

The next Career and Internship Fair will be held next fall, but students can check the events page at the Career Center for additional smaller networking opportunities.