I wouldn’t classify myself as one of those people who can walk into a room and meet people easily. Though I’ve been making an effort to push the boundaries of my comfort zone, I’ve always been an introvert by nature. Unfortunately, as a business student, networking seems like an important skill to learn.

When I recently won a ticket to a networking event through an information session at SFU, I told myself I had to go. Luckily, the event was a “mingle,” a smaller, more informal networking event. In contrast to a large and formal career fair which would involve elevator pitches and resumes, I figured this would be a good place to test the waters.

When the day came, and I dragged myself out and expected the worst. I swallowed hard and walked in, vaguely recognising a few other people from the information session. Were they as nervous as I was? A few minutes went by, and suddenly there I was, talking with someone I hadn’t known only a moment before. The surprising thing was that it actually wasn’t that bad. At first, there was a moment of panic when I realized I should have dressed in business casual rather than my casual black pants, nice tank top and cardigan (oops), but it could have been worse.

When I started talking to people, I realized they weren’t the kind of cold, reserved professionals that I had feared. They were just people like anyone else – quite friendly and easy to talk to. I also found some common ground with some of the other students there who were also at their first networking event.

Towards the end of the night, after I had gotten over my initial haze of nervousness, I had an epiphany. I wasn’t the only one who felt out of my comfort zone: a couple people hadn’t ventured out of the corner all evening, and a few others had mechanically talked to and exchanged cards with every person in the room. Luckily, I’d managed to behave very appropriately and confidently by avoiding these extremes.

Though I can still count on one hand the number of networking events I’ve attended, these experiences have driven home a few tips that I wish I’d known in advance:

1. Bring business cards. It’s quite common to exchange business cards at the end of a conversation.
2. Dress for the occasion. Depending on what event you attend, this may be a full on suit or business casual.
3. There is no need to talk to every single person in the room. A few meaningful conversations are less exhausting and more manageable.
4. It’s OK to take a breather and hide by the appetizers with the other students, but set a goal to not make this your entire evening.

Even though I haven’t talked to many people since those events, I’d say it was still worthwhile. The confidence I gained from recognising I am in fact capable of walking into a room full of strangers and striking up conversation has stayed with me and transferred over to other areas of my life as well.

If you’ve been procrastinating over whether or not to attend your first networking event, here’s my advice: just go. Not only could you eliminate (or at least reduce) your understandable anxiety and hesitancy, but you could even impact other areas of your life. Somehow, class presentations have become less nerve-racking. If this still isn’t enough of an incentive, keep in mind that you could encounter very good odds of winning a door prize.

Jennifer Gutzmann

Jennifer is a Career Peer Educator at SFU Career Services, and a fourth-year business student pursuing a career in Human Resources. She loves being with people, and wants to do something to help others.

Check back on the dates below for tips on preparing for the fair!

Sept 12: Fifteen days to the BIG Fair!

RSVP through Symplicity for the BIG Fair to receive tips, updates, and reminders about the Fair, tips on how to effectively attend the Fair, and get a chance to win two (2) movie passes to the Scotiabank Theatre in Vancouver!

Sept 19: Eight days to the BIG Fair!

Prepare your resume. For feedback on how to improve your resume, book a resume consult or attend one of our mini-resume consults happening on September 22, 23 & 26, 2011 (12:00 to 2:00PM) along South AQ, near B9200.

Resume consults are available to all current SFU students and recent alumni (up to two years afer graduation) Mondays to Fridays. Call Career Services at 778-782-3106, or visit us at one of our campus locations to set up a time.

Sept 20: Seven days to the BIG Fair!

Review the exhibitors list. Make a list of your priority organizations from the exhibitors list at Symplicity. Research these exhibitors ahead of time to find out more about the organization and prepare informed questions.

Check out the links below (PDF):

Complete BIG Fair 2011 Exhibitor List

Potential Questions to Employers

Sept 22: Five days to the BIG Fair!

Plan your attire. Ever heard the phrase “dress for the career you want, not the one you have”? Help create a lasting first impression by dressing neat and smart! Make yourself stand out from the crowd by putting on your business attire, formal or casual. Don’t be too casual – avoid wearing torn jeans, slippers, or t-shirts with inappropriate messages or words.

Sept 24: Three days to the BIG Fair!

Prepare your “Elevator Pitch.” Introduce yourself by using a 30-60 second speech that you could complete within one elevator ride if you had to. Tell the employers who you are, why you are here today, what you know of the company, and what you can offer. Use the attached exercise to help plan your elevator pitch.

Elevator Pitch Exercise

Sept 25: Two days to the BIG Fair!

Read through “Career Fair Do’s and Don’ts” for some quick tips on how to network and approach exhibitors.

Career Fair Do’s & Don’ts

Sept 26: One day to go to the BIG Fair!

Is your Big Fair checklist complete?

• Elevator speech
• Appropriate attire
• Copies of resume
• List of exhibitors to visit
• Pen and paper

If it is, get a good night’s rest! See you at the BIG FAIR!

Do you have a Big Dream? A Big Idea? A Big Vision?

The SFU Big Fair 2011 is here to help you make your way towards a Big Future!

Do your friends a favor and spread the word about this event by joining our Movie Pass Giveaway! SFU Career Services and Scotiabank Theatre have teamed up to offer you a chance to win a pair of Cineplex movie passes.

To enter the contest, simply tweet or re-tweet the following:

Got BIG dreams? Jumpstart into a BIG future at the #SFUBigFair! Follow @SFU_Career and RT for a chance to win 2 movie passes. http://ow.ly/6k525

Not on twitter yet? You can also enter the contest by “liking” any post on our Facebook page mentioning the BIG Fair throughout the duration of the contest.

The contest closed on September 20, 2011 (Tuesday) at noon. The winner will be drawn at random after the SFU Big Fair 2011. Only SFU students and alumni can join.  If your Twitter account is set to private, make sure to send a follower request to @SFU_Career for your entry to be valid. Only one entry is allowed per person. Good luck!

About the SFU BIG Fair 2011

Presented by SFU Career Services and AIESEC SFU, the Big Fair is an event where employers, graduate schools, and non-profit organizations come on campus to introduce career options to students and alumni who seek that ideal opportunity. Merging three great fairs in one, the Big Fair features a Career Fair, a Graduate Fair, and a Volunteer Fair.

Tuesday, Sept. 27: SFU Big Fair at Mezzanine, Surrey Campus

Wednesday, Sept. 28: SFU Big Fair at AQ, Burnaby Campus

Thursday, Sept. 29: SFU Big Fair at AQ, Burnaby Campus

Register through Symplicity to receive tips, updates, and a chance to win awesome prizes! Early registrants also receive COMPLIMENTARY BUSINESS CARDS from SFU Document Solutions.

For more information about the SFU Big Fair 2011, visit http://www.sfu.ca/bigfair

Want to learn about employment, educational, and volunteer opportunities for this summer?

Come to the Summer Opportunities Fair (formerly known as the summer hiring fair) on March 24 from 11:00 to 3:00 in the North AQ to meet and network with organizations that are interested in YOU.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to work for one of the top employers in Canada?

If so, come to “Canada’s Best” on Feb 24 to learn about top employers and what they’re looking for in employees. You’ll get to meet and engage with leaders from some of Canada’s top companies and find out about common recruitment practices, what they look for in new hires, and of course — why they’ve been chosen as some of the best places to work.

At this annual reception event, you will have a chance to hear from representatives from nationally and/or provincially recognized organizations speak about what makes their organization a top employer, and to have your questions answered by any of our panelists. Light refreshments as well as a brief networking opportunity will follow the panel presentation.

Register on Symplicity today! Space is limited!

January 21, 2010 (5:30 -7:30pm)

How to Successfully Find and Work with a Mentor                                                        

Have you ever thought about connecting with a mentor, or are you actively looking for one? Do you wonder what mentoring is all about, and want to know more?

Join us for an engaging and interactive session, led by human resources and mentoring expert Lewisa Anciano.  This workshop will introduce you to the concept of mentoring as a long-term strategy for your career development. You will learn the ‘ins’ and ‘out’ of mentoring, develop concrete skills to determine if mentoring is right for you, and obtain strategies to identify, successfully engage, and maintain a mentor.

For more information or to register, click here.

The Next Leaders Network (NLN) is a new association that offers innovative learning and networking opportunities to emerging not for profit leaders. To learn more about the NLN click here.

University is expensive. Assuming you take four courses, the majority of us have to have to fork out about $2300 each semester for tuition alone, more if you are a keener and take five! In the end, you may have spent over $40,000 for a piece of paper…I mean your degree.

On top of that, you have to set aside some cash for your Starbucks addiction and that credit card bill from your splurge last weekend. In the end, your earnings (if any!) won’t even let your breakeven each month. So you think, “I should really get a job!”. But along with school, you need to save time for friends and family, your student clubs, volunteering, and a possible significant other. So you say to yourself, “I JUST DON”T HAVE TIME!”.

But on Monday December 7^th, you will have an opportunity to balance school and your social life, while working a job with great experience and pay! SFU will be hosting the Olympic Hiring Fair! Come and meet organizations looking to hire students for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Be sure to bring your resume as some offer interviews and offers onsite!  VANOC contracts out a lot of positions to local businesses, who hires on their behalf to work Olympic venues. Student workers are in great demand for the Olympics, so you can be sure to be offered great wages. The experience is also great way to add more international experience to your resume!  Take a break from your student loans and get practical and transferable skills!

SFU Career Services will also have a booth set up if you need any career-related advice: work search, resume writing, cover letter writing, interview tips, etc.

Did I mention, BRING YOUR RESUME?

Hope to see you there!

Organizations attending so far:

- Genesis Security

- VANOC Parking Hubs

- Commissionaries BC

Date: Monday, December 7th; Time: 11:00 to 2:00;  Location: North AQ

Round Robin Resume

October 28, 2009

1:30-4:30pm @ MBC 2290-2296

Please RSVP on Symplicity.

Ting! There goes the bell again and it is time to start my experience at Round Robin Resume. Time to move on to the next table! As I sat down, my eyes raised up to him, the nicely dressed guy with an award-winning smile on the other end of the table. Since I only have 8 minutes to impress him, I presented my materials right away and waited for his neck muscles to make a nodding gesture. “Great start!” he said to me, and that, gave me a relief.

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Yes, it’s back and better than ever! Over 80 companies and schools will come to SFU Surrey and Burnaby during Career Days 2009. If you are actively searching for a job, or just graduated, why not come to talk to the creators of some of your favourite products such as the Blackberry and Pepsi? Don’t stop there though, or you’ll miss companies like Microsoft, Natural Resources Canada, Molson and Scotiabank!
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Youth Employment Programs (YEP)
Information Table
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
9:30 am – 4:00 pm
Location:  Burnaby Campus ~ A.Q. Table E1

Service Canada’s Youth Employment Program (YEP) will be here to inform youth about their no charge employment services that offer resume assistance, job interview skills, and general job searching techniques, as well as an online job bank specifically targeting youth between the ages of 15-30 years old.

YEP also provides youth with the opportunity to participate in their Casual Labour Program at the Burnaby Service Canada Centre for Youth (SCCY). This program works as a medium to help youth connect to employers looking for short-term help and connect employers with youth looking for short-term employment. The SCCY accomplishes this by advertising casual jobs on behalf of employers and by registering youth interested in casual work. Our youth/student job bank can be found at www.jobbank.gc.ca

Teaching overseas is a viable option for many students and new grads, and it offers many benefits.

Is teaching overseas an option for you? If it is, you will NOT want to miss the Education Fair at SFU Surrey this weekend. This teaching-overseas education fair brings 17 different organizations, representing every continent but Antarctica, to campus. They will be here to recruit students and new grads with Bachelors degrees and/or teaching certificates.

Date: Saturday, Jan 24
Time: 11:00am – 2:00pm
Location: Grand Hall, Surrey Campus

Information: www.sfu.ca/career/EdFair.html for a list of the companies that will be present at the fair!

Enter to win a $100 Visa gift card for your travels when you attend!

This just might be your ticket to that international dream teaching job!

Wednesday, May 28
11:30-1:15pm
MBC 2290-2294
Resume Collection: May 28-June 6
Interview Schedule: June 12-June 20

 

What kind of personal and professional development does Canada’s Intelligence service offer? If you’re brave or curious enough, get your answers when the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service stops by the SFU Burnaby Campus on Wednesday, May 28 from 11:30-1:15pm in MBC 2290-2294. Come and hear CSIS Chief and Senior Intelligence Officer, Brent Hoag’s presentation about the phenomenal opportunities with this organization.

 

Currently, CSIS has openings across Canada for 120 Intelligence Officers, which the organization seeks to fill by intentionally and routinely hiring from most undergraduate disciplines and from a broad cross-section of majors and programs of study. Further, post-graduates are encouraged to apply as well. In British Columbia, there are also current openings for Translators and Surveillants within the CSIS team. Finally, in addition to a second-to-none pension package, Intelligence Officers’ salaries start at $50 000 and progress to $82 340 after approximately eight years of satisfactory performance.

 

For more information about the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service please visit their website: www.csis.gc.ca. or visit Career Services, MBC 0300, phone: 778-782-3106, email: career_services@sfu.ca

Interested in working abroad? Looking for opportunities to travel and work? Check out SFU’s Spring Education Fair for information about teaching overseas. From Seoul to Bangkok to London, Career Services has your options covered.

This tremendous opportunity is open to ALL students (all faculties!) at Simon Fraser University. Over a dozen international teaching organizations (profiled at www.sfu.ca/career/edufair) are looking forward to promoting their industry to as many prospective employees as possible.  An online edition is available at:  http://www.sfu.ca/career/edufair/online.html

Please spread the word and stop by to win fabulous prizes on Saturday, April 12 from 1:00-4:30pm.

Career Services staffers have been liaising with our exhibitors for weeks, and they are very excited to meet SFU’s students; furthermore, many of these prospective employers will be traveling from around the world just to attend the fair. Rachelle Luxford, from ITN Mark, is leaving London, England tomorrow morning and Dr. Robert J. Wilson, from BCISB, is flying from Thailand tomorrow in order to represent their respective institutions at the Spring Education Fair. Representatives are also traveling from exotic locales such as Toronto and Ottawa (although this might actually be about escaping the weather) to meet our students!
And here are some of the details:

DATE: Saturday, April 12, 2008

TIME: 1:00-4:30pm

LOCATION: SFU Burnaby Campus – MPX Gymnasium – Education Building

EMPLOYERS: Follow this link to learn more about the organizations attending the Spring Education Fair – http://www.sfu.ca/career/edufair/online.html

We look forward to seeing you at this event…and many more to come!

I’ve always wondered what it takes to be one of Canada’s and BC’s top employers. Why is it so great to work for companies like Purdy’s Chocolates, Earls, Telus, Worksafe BC or Next Level Games? For BC Top 40 and Canada’s Top 100 employers, some criteria are: the workplace atmosphere, health and financial benefits, vacation and time off, training and skills development and community involvement.  Career Services allowed me to explore the details at Rise & Shine, join me to learn more by reading on…..

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 …to find out what’s happening on the CSI Blog?

Do you find the CSI posts interesting?

Would you like to be more current on the hot jobs advertised?

Need to stay connected to general career information as it happens?

The Career Services EMAIL LIST delivers a biweekly CSI Blog E-vite* (*email invitation), upcoming special events, information on employers, and overall current career news you won’t want to miss…  Sign up now!

JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST THROUGH:

Method 1:

Send an automated email request by clicking HERE. Do not edit the subject line or message. You will be sent a confirmation email. To complete the subscription process, click Reply and Send. Do not edit the subject line. If the confirmation was successful, you will get a welcome message from the maillist.

Method 2:

Go to Online Services
Click on “Manage Email Lists”
Log in with your email account ID and password.
Click on “Search for mail lists”
Type in “careerservices-info” and hit the search button
Once the results are loaded, click on “Subscribe”
To unsubscribe, follow the same instructions, but click “Unsubscribe” in step 6.

Do you want to know the “secret of success”? 

Do you want to know why some people who have all the qualifications for success end up dismal failures, while others seem to have many handicaps but still achieve outstanding success?

Everyone is a slave to habit.  Either we are a slave to our wants and desires, or we are a slave to our long-term purpose.  According to Albert E.N. Gray in The Common Denominator of Success, the secret is that every successful person throughout history has “formed the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do.”  By definition, success is achieved only by a small percentage of people, since it requires us to de disciplined and act in a way that is often opposite of our natural desires and urges.  Truly successful people have realized that by doing the things they don’t like to do, they are able to accomplish the things, long-term, that they desire. They have a purpose strong enough to motivate them to form the habit of doing things others don’t like to do.

Really, the “habit” is the most important part of this equation, since we are all creatures of habit.  And no decision you make to change or implement something new in your life will ever come to anything unless you’ve linked the decision to change with a very definite purpose that can be accomplished by keeping it.  Basically, it’s a decision you need to make each and every day consistently, until one day you wake up changed to a new and better person.  (more…)

Once again the Summer Hiring Fair 2008 exhibition hosted at the SFU Burnaby campus seemed a sure hit among the students and employers in search for their ideal summer work opportunities. Employers from diverse fields were on the prowl for students from all faculties to examine the unique positions available. The fair offered everything from flexible employment in the customer service and catering industry, to more specific career and goal oriented positions, finally to simply expanding your career contacts and networking skills. Employers including B.C. Ferries, University Painters, Canadian Direct Insurance, among many others, offered some key tips and advice for students on the upcoming summer job hunt.

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Amidst the chaos of midterms and papers, it probably doesn’t feel like summer will ever get here, right?  Think again!  Summer is actually just around the corner and the time to be looking for a summer job is now. 

What were you doing on Wednesday, February 20th? If you weren’t at the 2008 Summer Hiring Fair, you missed out on a great chance to network with representatives from a range of industries who are eager to hire students.  Students at the fair had the opportunity to ask employers questions, find out more about the job positions available, and receive information booklets and packages.

If you weren’t able to make it to the hiring fair, but you still want to know what kinds of summer employment opportunities are out there, be sure to check out the websites of the organizations that attended.  Also, be sure to apply early!  Many of these organizations are currently accepting applications.

Here’s a SNAPSHOT of some of the organizations that attended, and some key points to keep in mind when applying: (more…)

What is consulting?  Well, spoken like a true consultant…the answer is:  “it depends”.  While some see glitz and glamour in client dinners and airplanes around the world, others see 80 hour work weeks with Microsoft Office.  Regardless of your initial perspective (while there may be elements of truth to all of the above) the primal, most basic definition of what “we” (management consulting firms) do is help clients solve business challenges.  Last Friday I walked around the office and asked, “what does consulting mean to you?”  Here are the answers I received (and as you guessed, they’re all over the map)

• Consultants make their own career, it’s all about what you put into it
• Consultants have to be flexible, you never know where the next job will be or for how long
• Consultants are detailed-oriented and are perfectionists
• Consultants are highly paid…high paid is a relative term
• Consultants are specialized in a skill set or industry
• Consultants can offer a third person perspective on an issue
• Consultants offers advice, understand needs, and listen carefully to provide the best possible solution
• Consultants work long hours, get little sleep eat lots of pizza

Again, elements of truth to all the comments above, but to sum it up, I think we know how to work hard…and we certainly know how to play hard.

…Deloitte, a great place to do great work
As a consultant at Deloitte, I have worked the past two and a half years in seven different cities across Canada and the US; with clients from the public and private sectors; in industries as diverse as oil & gas to healthcare and projects spanning business strategy to large-scale IT implementations. At Deloitte, we have four functional areas of consulting; two of which focus on technology challenges (e.g. IT advisory services, large system implementations like SAP) and two that stem from strategic, operational and human capital (people) challenges (e.g. business planning, change management, compensation).  At the end of the day there are such a broad range of business issues that truly defining consulting is a difficult task, but where we can, we provide expertise and collaboratively work toward solutions for our clients. (more…)

 

Health Canada is a familiar organization that many of us have heard of.  However, has Health Canada ever been a company on your work search radar? 

Currently here are the positions Health Canada is hiring for:

Scientific Regulator
Chemist
Biologist

Health Canada will be coming to Simon Fraser University for the first time to hire undergrad and graduate Science students!  This won’t be your typical information session where there is only presentation and networking.  Health Canada is putting together a spectacular event that consists of an improv show by Second City along with a reception for students and Health Canada executives accompanied by delicious food!  The Associate Deputy Minister will also be on site to meet with interested students and answer any of your questions.  Make sure you mark the following details on your calendar.

Tuesday, March 11 2008
2:30 – 4:30 pm
WMX Atrium (3rd floor)

If you can’t make it on Tuesday to the information session, make sure you catch them at their info table in the Academic Quadangle on Thursday and Friday.  Representatives will be there to answer your questions so make sure you drop by between your classes!

Make sure you send in you applications as soon as possible because interviews will start next Monday and Tuesday.  Successful candidates will be given on-the-spot job offers!  Prepare yourself by making an appointment with Christine Gilbert, our Career Account Manager for faculties of Science, Health Science, Applied Science and Education.  Don’t delay now and prepare yourself for the great job opportunities!