At a loss for ideas of what career to pursue post-graduation? Be sure to attend Portland State’s 24th annual All Majors Career Fair, taking place tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom.
At a loss for ideas of what career to pursue post-graduation? Be sure to attend Portland State’s 24th annual All Majors Career Fair, taking place tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom.
A number of booths will be available for students interested in (gasp!) the arts.
Radio Disney AM 1640
Radio Disney AM 1640 is looking for a few vibrant individuals to join their team.
“For our part-time local road crew positions, I’m primarily looking for work experience that’s customer-oriented,” said Stacey Bailey, station manager at Radio Disney AM 1640, Portland. “For our full-time promotions manager and account executive positions, internship experience and roles demonstrating leadership, sales and customer experience is key.”
Radio Disney AM 1640 will be offering students an opportunity to talk with them about a possible career option.
“Radio Disney AM 1640 Portland is part of the number one radio network for kids, tweens and families,” Baily said.
KGW
If journalism and television is your thing, then stopping by Portland’s local KGW News Channel 8’s booth would be a wise move. They will be recruiting for current job openings and giving students some insight into how they may fit into the KGW team.
“We recruit for whatever open positions we have at the time, which is currently a teleprompter role,” according to Caryn Lilley, controller and human resources director at KGW. “This position entails working in our production area during a news cast, operating the teleprompter for the anchors. Also, we have some sales positions open right now.”
For students who are interested in pursing a career in journalism, Lilley suggests taking any and every possible chance to get experience.
“I would recommend using any opportunity possible to job shadow. Find an internship. See if there are opportunities over at Oregon Public Broadcasting or some of the access cable channels that are available in the Portland area,” Lilley suggests. “Generally, to get into journalism, it requires starting in a smaller market than Portland.”
Even if KGW’s current job offerings aren’t what you are looking for, or if graduation is nowhere in your near future, the fair is still a great way to get yourself out there and have some face-time with possible future employers.
“It’s important to be in front of employers as much as you can, even if you are still in school. If nothing else, [you can ask them] what skill sets are required for the job you are trying to pursue, and [find] opportunities to figure out how to get into the industry,” Lilley said. “At the very least, you are networking and collecting cards and finding out who the human resources directors are at different companies that you may be interested in working for in a year or two.”
Audigy Group
Want to work for a creative agency but don’t have experience? Audigy Group might be a great place to start.
“It’s our feeling, and has been since the inception of this company, that you don’t have to have years and years of experience,” said Matthew Murray, vice president of marketing and chief operating officer at Stratus Dental Group. “We don’t believe that acceleration in a career path is based upon seniority; it’s based upon capability. We put that into action every day.”
Audigy Group, which is possibly looking for a new face to add to their team, will be available at the fair to speak with students.
“We are always interested in talking to quality, interested, talented young people who are also interested in who we are as a company,” Murray said. “Seven years ago, there were three people sitting around a kitchen table, and now we’re a 130-person team in which 30 to 40 are dedicated to marketing. A large number of those are Portland State students and [University of Portland] students.”
Murray said that attending the career fair is a great way to replenish one’s love of learning.
“You’ve gone to school, so you have some intellectual curiosity, but it probably hasn’t touched in reality for a long time,” he said. “It has probably gotten buried under having to get a grade, to having to do a paper, to having to take a test, to ‘I just want to graduate and get the hell out of here.’”
For students who are nearing graduation, Murray has a three-part strategy for becoming successful in their career.
“Do what you love; be passionate about it. Secondly, absolutely network about it. And the third thing I would suggest is to learn how to communicate effectively,” he said.
Murray said that this last trait is the one he thinks is most often missing in young people today.
“We can all talk, but how good are we in our business communications? How short and succinct are we in our verbal communications? Can you articulate concepts, can you create passion in the people around you and can you get across a hard idea?” Murray asked rhetorically. “We are all sales people. We are selling each other ideas. We’re selling our bosses on giving us a raise. It’s all about some form of persuasion or communication.”
