When looking for a job, genuine enthusiasm can sometimes be the difference between acceptance and denial.
The center will host the 40th-annual Now-to-Next Career Fair in the Warren Ballrooms Wednesday, March 30, from 3 to 5:30 p.m.
About 77 employers from New York and Vermont will attend, ranging from businesses from Six Flags Great Escape to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Currently, Behavioral Health Services North, a health care system based in the Champlain Valley, is looking to fill 18 positions in its company, from advocates, to clinicians, to senior residential support.
BHSN Marketing Director Bonnie Black said the company has room for a wide array of PSUC graduates from different fields of study.
Black said employees serve many different roles within the company, including marketing, health care and patient relations.
Black said personality is the most important quality to gain favor among employers when attending career fairs such as this.
“Put your hand out for it to be shaken,” Black said.
She said students should be assertive and confident when speaking to a prospective employer. Black also said students should bring multiple copies of their resume with them, and inquisitiveness is another important quality to have.
“Ask about their business,” Black said. “You can say what your major is and then say, ‘How do you see a person like I am being in your organization?’”
She said the responses from both the career fair and the college’s fall internship fair have been excellent for her business, and BHSN employs a great deal of PSUC graduates, including Black herself.
Adirondack Jellystone Park, a family campground resort 60 miles south of Plattsburgh, will also attend the fair.
Michael and Gina Lenhard have co-owned the park for 25 years, and although they have tabled at other colleges’ career fairs, this will be their first time at PSUC.
“The reason to go to a college is because some colleges do offer recreation programming,” Gina said.
She said students who are interested in an opportunity to work outdoors are usually attracted to the Lenhards’ business, but from prior experience, students who study the arts, such as music, theater, English and studio art, tend to do well working with campers.
Michael, like Black said successful candidates will likely have a bubbly, enthusiastic personality.
“They’ve got to want to get involved,” he said.
Overton-Healy said Career Counselor and Employer Relations Specialist Tobi Hay planned the entire event.
“The career fair is a great example of a time when employers and students can come together and do some networking and explore some opportunities,” Hay said.
A complete list of employers can be found on the center’s webpage on PSUC’s website. Hay said that, when searching for employers to be at the fair, she looked for employers among many different disciplines that would best serve the college’s academically diverse student population.
Complex.com, a style, fashion, entertainment and pop culture media platform based in New York City and targeted toward younger adults, released its list of the “10 Most Worthless College Majors.”
Overton-Healy saidvthat a student’s major matters in certain industries.
“You can’t work for a big, important accounting firm without an accounting degree,” she said.
However, she also said many employers seek relevant experiences, leadership, critical thinking and communication skills that can be “sharpened, developed and honed with any academic discipline.”
There was an information session this past Wednesday, March 23, in the Angell College Center’s Alumni Conference Room. Overton-Healy said a recruiter from Target was there to help students with coaching and preparation.
“You can actually meet with a recruiter who’s going to give you inside information about how to approach them, what your resume should look like (and) how to shake hands properly,” Overton-Healy said.
She said students should be enthused when talking to prospective employers.
“That could actually move you forward faster than somebody who may have a terrific set of on-paper credentials, but they don’t act like they’re all that interested.”
Email Tim Lyman at news@cardinalpointsonline.com
