Career fair was yesterday, and overall I think it went great. Some companies were great, while other didn’t go so well (which was usually cause of my awkwardness or not meeting minimum GPA), but I think I have a handful I’ll apply to. But this was my first career fair, and now I know what I need to do better for next semester’s fair; one, ALWAYS ask for a business card, I forgot to ask for one from a few companies I was really interested in. Two, go see more companies that look interesting that I didn’t initially intend to talk to. Three, layout my research notes on companies better. I had just written them in my padfolio when I should have made and Excel sheet; would have been a lot more organized and easier to find certain companies. And finally four, TAKE BETTER NOTES! By the time I’d left the fair, I’d pretty much forgotten which companies had said if my resume was enough for an application. So it looks like I might be applying online to all of them.
Also after yesterday, I think I either want to head in the space/defense direction (Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Boeing) or the philanthropy kind of work direction (Blackbaud, Palantir). Then there are some companies that don’t fall into those categorize but they seem fun to work with and I can relate to what they do (crowdTorch, Big Nerd Ranch). Also talking to the companies yesterday, I realized I have a lot of experience in databasing, but I don’t know if it’s something I necessarily want to do as a career. I’d like to get some more experience in front-end, but that’s kind of hard to do when your University doesn’t really have any focus in it. I also wouldn’t mind doing App development, but it’s not a high priority. Might consider looking into an iOS book/tutorial. I’d like to also try android development, but I don’t have a device to test on. Yes, I know, you can set up a virtual environment/device, but I think there’s just something about being able to test your app on a physical device. My University has an android mobile app class, might get into that at some point, we also have a new iOS class, so hopefully that will continue to be taught (at least until I graduate).
I was so tired and mentally drained after the career fair yesterday, that I pretty much just watched SVU and youtube videos all evening, and then went to sleep early. So I have a lot of work this weekend, as well as an Algorithms test on Tuesday. So this should be a busy weekend of homework and intern applications.
Well until next time, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.
Ashley