USC Annenberg's Career Development Office recently hosted the Annenberg Career Connection, which students called "wonderful" because of the job opportunities that arose from the 43 organizations that attended.

"It was really good practice to see how we can act on our feet, especially when recruiters ask us questions about our futures," said Isabelle Huang (B.A. Communication '11), who has already been offered an internship because of the event.

The Annenberg Career Connection, which hosts media- and communication-based recruiters and companies, is the largest of the three career fairs sponsored by the Career Development Office each year. Before the event, the office coached students by conducting a how-to-work-a-career-fair workshop, posting career fair success advice on their Facebook and Twitter pages, and emailing students and alumni articles such as this article containing advice.

Associate director of Career Development Suzanne Alcantara said this is one of the most important events the career office produces.

"It gives students access to dozens of recruiters from different companies and industries," Alcantara said. "It's timed appropriately for the students who graduate in May, which is the largest portion."

Many students found their first post-college job at the same event last year, including Torrey AndersonSchoepe (B.A. Print Journalism '10) and Mia Fields (B.A. Public Relations '10).  

"I had no idea after going to that career fair that I would end up with the perfect job in the most important part of the journalism industry -- online journalism," said AndersonSchoepe, an assistant news editor at Yahoo! News. "I love what I'm doing and couldn't be happier."

Fields, a public relations associate at simplehuman, said her main advice to students looking for jobs is to follow up with potential employers.

"I don't know how to stress the importance of taking advantage of your resources and reaching out to the people you meet at job fairs or any other networking event you attend," Fields said. "If you don't ask, you'll never find out. After the job fair I followed up with all of the contacts I met, including my current employer. I heard back from simplehuman when they had a job opening and the rest is history."

Tim Burgess, director of Career Development, said it is important for students to research companies before meeting with recruiters at career fairs. To help the students prepare, Alcantara sent students emails with company names and links before the event.

"The biggest complaint recruiters have is when people ask them what their company does," Burgess said. "When students are prepared, they can start an informed conversation. Then they're connecting. They are able to tell the company what they can do for them, what they bring to the plate. It's a focused approach that recruiters respond well to."

Burgess said face-to-face connections that students make with recruiters are even more important now that applications and résumés can overwhelm companies through email and websites. He also said he enjoys seeing the many USC Annenberg alumni who come back to career fairs as representatives of their companies.

"We always find a lot of talent through Annenberg," said Kevin Oates (B.A. Public Relations '99, Master of Business Administration '06), a vice president/account supervisor at Ketchum. "With a number of alumni in the office, we're always eager to represent Ketchum at campus events."

Oates said it feels like coming home when he visits the USC campus.

"I instantly put myself in the students' shoes and remember being a nervous senior looking for my first job," Oates said. "The USC family helped me through the job search process, provided connections and ultimately opened doors at Ketchum where I've spent the first 12 years of my career. If I can help USC students in some way, it's just a small repayment on what the school has provided me."

Oates echoed what Burgess said about researching the companies before talking with recruiters.

"Come with an agenda of companies you'd like to visit and research those on your target list," Oates said. "I'm most impressed with students who know something about our company and our clients. Be authentic, relax and tell me something that makes you unique."

Alcantara said it's fantastic to see alumni such as Oates come back to USC Annenberg.

"I've worked here for 10 years, and so many students I worked with at the fair have come back confidently at the other side of the table," she said. "The alumni know the high quality of students here and that they'll be a good fit. They want to bring a member of the Trojan family on board. The energy is contagious."

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