The Center for Career Development and Internships is reviewing student resumes and leaving feedback on them before the Career Fair on March 18. Student representatives will be collecting resumes at the Resume Round-Up from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Tuesday in the Henry Student Center lobby until March 12.

This year’s career fair will be virtual and hosted on the Handshake app or website (www.joinhandshake.com) under events, so make sure to download the app to upload resumes. 

Sessions will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Career Fair allows students to apply for career and internship positions, as well as meet graduate admissions representatives. Although student representatives will be collecting the resumes, professional staff from the Center for Career Development and Internships will review them and email them back to students with edits ideas. 

“We hope that our student representatives will collect a number of resumes for feedback weekly so that Wilkes applicants will have the best resumes among their fellow college students competing for positions,” said Carol Bosack Kosek, director of Career Services. “They will also show students how to long on to the Virtual Fair, to explore opportunities and to request meeting times with employers.”

The Center for Career Development and Internships recommends that students submit their resumes as soon as possible, so they have ample time to make any necessary corrections. Resumes are basically a first impression for an employer or internship site, so it should represent the student as best as possible.

“The annual in-person fair began in 2006 and has grown each year to 100 employers and over 400 students in attendance, but this past fall was our very first virtual fair using Handshake and we had 55 companies and 237 students attend,” said Sharon Castano, director of Internships and Parent Programs. “We felt that was a great inaugural event, so this semester we are expecting a much better turnout. We have 90 interns this spring, and I expect that the summer semester will be even busier.”

Unfortunately, the career fair will not be able to be in-person due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; however, students are encouraged to log into their Handshake accounts. If a student needs to create one, they can by visiting the Handshake website.

After signing into or creating a student’s account, they can upload their resume to Handshake, where a Wilkes staff member of the Center for Career Development and Internships will provide the feedback and edits they feel are necessary to result in a better looking resume.

Once a staff member deems the resume acceptable, the student can finally submit it to the employers’ or graduate schools’ virtual sessions for either a group or an individual informational meeting. There they will speak with employers or schools about their opportunities and see what interests them.

“I have never attended a career fair at Wilkes or written a resume before, but after learning about the different benefits I can get from doing so, I am seriously thinking about trying it out since it does not hurt to,” said Elizabeth Antes, a sophomore nursing major. “I want to get my name out there for future potential employers, and this seems like a good way to go about doing that, so I am glad to hear about this opportunity.”

This truly is a great chance for students to explore their options and narrow down their decisions on their future careers. If interested in participating in this process, keep in mind that students should submit their resumes as soon as possible for review, since employers value deadlines and being able to upload resumes in a timely manner.

For more information, visit the Handshake website and the Center for Career Development and Internships staff work at the center on alternate days and virtually from Monday through Friday.