Information Sessions – Make the best out of them
Information Sessions or “Meet the Employer” sessions are great avenues for students to find out more about an organization and the employment opportunities that one can explore with these firms. However the potential of such sessions just doesn’t stop there. More often than not, there can be a bigger agenda attached to them; if you know how to leverage these sessions to the most optimal use. These sessions are invaluable opportunities for potential hires to interact with employers and sell themselves even before an opportunity to interview is handed out.
Typically, the students who attend these events are much more focused about a specific organization than the typical target audience of a career fair. Information sessions are lot more targeted towards students who are serious about exploring employment options with a specific organization and hence employers tend to take a closer look at students who attend these events. From an employer/recruiter perspective, students who come across as highly motivated and passionate are much sought after by the former. Students attending these sessions are handed a great opportunity to interact with interested employers, network with these stakeholders and also obtain some positive visibility, thereby helping themselves their foot across the door.
How do you go about making best use of these information sessions? I will proceed to take a crack at it, reflecting from some of my personal experiences and interactions with scores of others, who for some reasons (mentioned below) were able to put these sessions to good use.
* Research the Employer
Even though these sessions are designed for students to explore in-depth about a specific employer, I would recommend potential student attendees to research about the employer, the respective business practice(s) attending the session and the career opportunities offered by the employer even before attending the session.
This gives you a heads-up about the knowledge you have collected about that employer and helps you manage your time better in obtaining more pertinent information that you can't find anywhere else. The company website is a logical place to start and resources like Vault & Wetfeet are other places where you can get more information.
By doing your homework, you have the time to think about interesting and pertinent questions based on the information you have collected which the other students may not have thought, handing you a competitive advantage.
* Interact with the Panel
The panel members who attend these sessions like students who make it a point to socialize with them. It demonstrates that you can communicate well and that you are focused in your career search process. They appreciate spending whatever little time they have, in helping out a potential candidate who appears to be serious in pursuing career options with that specific employer.
This is also the time where you can ask questions about your specific case which you couldn't have asked in front of the other attendees. Leveraging the research that you've done about the organization, pitch to the panel members about your academic/professional background, experience and interests and explore how you fit with the organization. This way you are able to sell yourself as a potential hire and also help these stakeholders to remember you when they go through resumes to short-list candidates for interviews.
* Follow-up
Always remember to get a business card or the contact information of the stakeholders with whom you interacted. Information sessions typically don't last more than an hour and there may not be sufficient time to get all your queries answered. Leverage this networking opportunity and maintain contact with the panel members and communicate with them over e-mail/phone. Find out more information about your interested positions and about the organization in general. There may be chances where the stakeholders whom you met may not have all the relevant information to answer your questions and may direct you to other individuals in the organization who would be in a better position to give you more pertinent information. This also helps you to expand your network which you may leverage at a later stage.
As the fall quarter begins, be prepared to attend scores of such sessions happening here and there. Hopefully you would find these perspectives helpful and feel free to drop in any comments/suggestions.
Find out about Information Sessions by logging into HuskyJobs and/or checking out the Career Center's online calendar. FYI ...the 1st week of classes is when a bulk of info sessions are added to the calendar & HuskyJobs.
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Information sessions are a lot better than job fairs because all of the job fairs I've gone to have like one person from the company handing out fliers and they don't really take the time to talk much to you because they want more people to here about their business rather than get to know interested people. I really appreciate your tips on information sessions and will be sure to use them next time I go to one, thanks
These sessions are great opportunities to gain more information about companies. They should be used by students to gather details about careers with the companies. Whist many people will build a portfolio of career history it is important to get some job satisfaction from your employment and not just move through jobs until the right one 'comes along'. Is the job/employment right for student. Ask questions and try to find out if the carrer path on offer is the one for you.
Lokesh has the priorities in the correct order with "Research The Employer" listed first. Learn as much as you can about the company. Another location to find info about a prospective company is to view the Yahoo Message Boards. My daughter found some very useful info there...after wading through the spam.
Excellent points. Far too often student don't make the most of such sessions. Preparation and an open mind is vital and remember people can tell a lot about first impressions.
Scott Tehrani
Information sessions are all about first impressions. Be dressed right, be serious without being uptight, absolutely no profanity even in a joke, have a firm handshake and look the recruiter in the eye. After two or three of these you will have the method down pat. Get started right away. Recruiters often open the doorway to the short list of interview prospects at information meetings.
Nice article about the importance attending information sessions..
After ten years in the career development field, I can't say enough about the value of information sessions. Not only are they great to elevate a student's career or industry awareness, they give students a non-threatening way to meet with recruiters and hiring managers.
We always have to remind students that if employers don't see interest in their organizations at information sessions, they may drop the university from their recruiting schedule. Here is a blog post I wrote recently: 5 Good Reasons to Meet Employers This Fall
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