Students in College of Arts and Sciences given first chance to network at univ. fair

Students gathered in the Trabant Multipurpose Rooms Thursday night to improve and employ networking skills at the first Career Networking Night tailored specifically for the College of Arts and Sciences.

Heather Catalino, Career Services marketing and multimedia coordinator, said it is unlikely that Career Services will ever sponsor a career fair geared specifically for the College of Arts and Sciences. She said networking instruction seems to be more helpful than a career fair, as the range of majors is significantly broader than other colleges.

Networking Night featured 59 non-profit, for profit, science-based, communication and government companies students could contact.

“The Department of Arts and Sciences usually provides students with lots of options,” Catalino said. “This will help narrow down the career search and find what students are interested in so they can find a job.”

Prior to the event, Catalino said there was a workshop for students to learn to aspects of self-marketing such as showing confidence, doing a proper handshake, maintaining eye contact and other strategies.

Alum Matt O’Donnell, morning anchor for Action News 6 in Philadelphia, opened the Networking Fair. He said while networking is important, he thinks students should concentrate on other aspects of job seeking as well, such as being prepared, being timely and trying harder than competitors.

“It’s easy to network,” O’Donnell said. “However, the playing field is low. Everyone else has the same tools you do, so in terms of it being easy to get a job, everyone moved up the same notch.”

Junior human services major Kristen Loomis said the networking fair was a great opportunity for her since her major limits where she can work.

 Loomis said the fair was well planned for the first Arts and Sciences networking fair. She said she had never attended a networking event and was initially surprised by the layout of high top tables where company representatives were stationed, though she managed to successfully network around the room.

“It seemed like a really great opportunity for those students in the College of Arts and Sciences,” Loomis said. “At the career fair, there’s not usually many organizations that I would be taking internships for or working for in the future, so this seemed right up my alley.”

Loomis said the large number of alumni at the networking fair made her more comfortable, knowing she had something in common with the organizations represented.

Senior mass communications major Amanda Rominiecki said she went to the fair with the hopes of finding a job in time for May graduation.

She said she hopes networking can help her become more comfortable with promoting herself to potential employers.

“I felt a little uncomfortable at first,” Rominiecki said. “Probably like everyone did. I was just thinking, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing.’”

Rominiecki said she hopes Career Services hosts similar fairs in the future, as the ones she previously attended catered more to engineering, business and accounting majors.

Catalino said student feedback for the event has been supportive and she hopes for ideas to improve the fair next year.

“I think there’s potential for it to grow and become a larger event, but the networking seemed to be a great and useful thing,” Catalino said.