One Step Closer to Achieving Your Dreams: Tips to be Career-Fair Ready
AD+PR Instructor Alexandrea Thrubis Stanley gives her input on qualities recruiters seek
By: Akash Vaghasia
Spring semester is a stressful time for many students. Upperclassmen are looking to gain real-world experience in their fields of study through internships, jobs and other projects. Campus offers a variety of career fairs to connect students with prospective employers. ComArtSci Connect recently gave students the opportunity to meet with recruiters from Leo Burnett, Doner, and Lambert among others. While this event happens but once a year, there are still plenty of future fairs and opportunities to network with recruiters at MSU and beyond this spring.
AD+PR instructor, Alexandrea Thrubis Stanley, M.A., has hired and worked with many interns throughout her career. The three things she says she looked for were skill, will and fit.
“When I was at the Tigers or Endeavor Detroit, hiring interns or people to help us with different events, I looked at if they had the skills, education and experience to do the job I was hiring for,” said Thrubis Stanley.
An important skill that she believes is needed in advertising and public relations is the ability to write, work in teams, and be open to new and different viewpoints. In team settings, everyone has a different background and experience that will lead to different ideas. These are two skills people can improve on over time by practicing. Thrubis Stanley says practicing these skills will help in the long-run by improving upon weaknesses and finding the right environment to work in.
“Some people are able to do the job, but aren’t interested in working in that industry or really interested in working in that company. Similar to what I did at the (collegiate baseball team) Brockton Rox, I looked for people who were enthusiastic about wanting to work with us,” said Thrubis Stanley.
Thrubis Stanley advises students to look for an area they want to work in and really take part in the community that the company offers. When hiring for the Tigers, she said she had to look for people that cared about the team, but were also respectful to ball players.
“I looked for people that made sense to fit with our team. It was maybe complementing a set of skills our team had or lacking in a certain area,” said Thrubis Stanley.
The work required for a job and internship can be taught. Whether someone can be the right fit for the organization cannot. Each company is different, so Thrubis Stanley says students should really look for opportunities that best match their personality.
To learn more about upcoming career fairs at Michigan State University, visit https://careernetwork.msu.edu/jobs-internships/Career-Fairs/.