Career Night gives students the chance to meet future employers
By Kyle Wittenbraker
Staff Reporter

Many companies seeking students for internships and full-time employment will be at the biannual TCU Career Night in the Student Center Ballroom from 4 to 7 p.m. today.

“Career Night is perhaps the only chance that a student has to talk face-to-face with representatives from numerous employers without having to go through a screening process,” said Bill Stowe, associate director of University Career Services.

Stowe said younger students can ask employers questions about job opportunities and qualifications they require.

Older students can use Career Night as an opportunity to hand their résumés directly to an employer and show what they have to offer, he said. Stowe said students should bring multiple résumés.

Chuck Dunning, associate director of Career Services, held two workshops Tuesday to give students advice on how to impress recruiters. He said about 35 students came.

“If you are the first student they see and you make that great impression, you are the person they’re going to remember,” he said. “You set the standard that every student they talk to is going to have to live up to.”
He said he role-plays during the workshops by pretending to be a student and having one student in the group pretend to be a prospective employer. This shows students how to properly introduce themselves to recruiters, he said.

Dunning said students should be there when the door opens, because the best time to catch the recruiters is from 4:30 to 6 p.m. “Prepare and rehearse a fifteen second introduction of yourself, like a commercial, that tells that employer why you are interested in them, what you want to do and what skills and knowledge you offer that might make you fit their needs or set you apart from other students,” Stowe said.

Chris Bradshaw, senior finance major, said he is prepared to make a good first impression. He has made many copies of his resume and has a suit ready.

“I want to meet as many people as possible and network so that I have lots of options,” Bradshaw said.

About 50 companies are scheduled to come to Career Night. These include Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, Deloitte and Touche, KPMG, Lockheed Martin, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Fort Worth Weekly, NBC Channel 5 and Spanish language Channel 39.

The event is co-sponsored by University Career Services, Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity and the Public Relations Student Society of America.