I attended the career fair at the University of Texas near downtown Austin yesterday. I was there as part an engineer in the VMware booth to talk to students about opportunities to work at VMware. We were primarily looking for interns for this coming summer where there are over 100 positions available but also looking for new college graduates as well. So if you are a student and looking for an internship this summer (or you know a great student candidate), check out our website and submit your resume.
I haven't had the opportunity to attend a career fair in a long time, and I found it really interesting. It was great to get to talk to so many bright and talented students and think that many of them could end up working at VMware this summer. After talking with thirty students over the course of a few hours it becomes clear what makes one stand out in comparison to another.
Students that have done significant projects outside of their normal course work or have completed internships that allowed them to gain skills and experience have a big advantage. Generally these students tend to be seniors or post graduate students, but in a couple of cases I talked to first and second year students that had done some really cool personal projects.
The other aspect that makes somebody stand out is confidence and the ability to speak with certainty about the details of the things that they have done or experienced. This seems obvious to me after having been in the work force for some time, but looking back on when I was looking for my first internship and job I probably didn't understand how important this is. Go ahead and speak with confidence about what you do know (without going to far and claiming you know things that you don't - as this will get you in real trouble!).
Todd
Running on Isla Mujeres Again
11 years ago
2 comments:
Hi Todd, I attended a career fair at my university, interviewed, and was told I made it through the on-campus interviews and that they couldn't wait to work with me this summer. It has been eight weeks since then, I've had only one phone interview with a PM, and I still haven't been assigned a project. Should I worry about not having been assigned a project yet?
Julia - I did not have the opportunity to participate in at any on campus career fairs this year. I don't know what the time frame is for the program. Hopefully you have heard back from somebody by now. If not, contact the person who interviewed you or the campus relations group and just ask for a status update. - Todd
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