For the past 23 years, Rensselaer has been the host of the largest student-run career fair in the nation. While many students find the NSBE SHPE Annual Career Fair an event they cannot do without, many do not know what it takes to make it happen.
Teya Dalton and Oscar Almendarez are Career Fair chairs, and they oversee the planning and implementation processes of the event. The planning process includes scheduling a day for the fair, sorting through feedback received from the previous year, and recruiting companies and student ambassadors.
Dalton and Almendarez explained that starting the planning process almost a year before helps to make the work less overwhelming and more productive. "Immediately after last year’s fair we started planning for this year," said Almendarez.
The September 11 attacks have had a significant effect on this year’s career fair. Twenty-five companies that were scheduled to be in the fair have canceled due to the current economic situation and aviation concerns.
As a result, the fair will not host as many companies as last year. "Some of the companies canceled because their employees won’t fly," said Dalton. However, fewer companies does not necessarily mean less work.
One week before classes started, organizers of the Career Fair were meeting again to make the transition from the planning phase to the implementation phase. "We have a few comedians in the group who make the work easier," said Dalton.
The productivity of the whole process is due in part to the organization of the seven subcommittees: hospitality, Armory, web, advertisement, mailing, food, and recruiting.
The web committee, for example, is responsible for maintaining the career fair’s website and all the registration information that needs to be retrieved or updated. The other committees manage the rest of the process, such as identifying companies that students want to see, preparing facilities, planning receptions, and ensuring that the event goes smoothly.
"There is always a surprise, and we want to be prepared," said Almendarez.
For the 20 student organizers of the Career Fair, good time management is very important. "Most of us take 16 to 21 credits, so it is a balancing act between school work and the Career Fair," said Dalton.
However, both Almendarez and Dalton agreed that although being responsible for such an event is at times overwhelming, "it brings some gratitude and satisfaction to see it come together."
