December 5, 2016

No matter where you are in your career path, be sure to visit the Career Center at the 2016 AGU Fall Meeting

Posted by AGU Career Center

By Nathaniel Janick

Fall Meeting: it’s a time for scientists to come together and share their research.  While it might feel like the science is only being shared in technical sessions, it’s happening all around.  Technical sessions are just one medium to communicate with your fellow scientists; another way that we share our work at Fall Meeting is networking.

Networking can take many forms.  It might be a social event or a casual conversation with the stranger sitting next to you at a technical session.

If you’re on the hunt for a new job (or that first job), networking can be nauseating.  It can sometimes be difficult to tell if the connections you are making are going to create opportunity in the short term or the long term.  You’ve arrived at Fall Meeting with a specific objective in mind, generate job leads, but how do you identify the attendees with a reciprocal goal to find prospective hires?

Enter the Career Center.

The AGU Career Center will be hosting events throughout the week during Fall Meeting.  You can skip the game of guessing if the person talking to you at that mixer is actively recruiting and go straight to the source.

On Tuesday, from 10am-5pm, recruiters from an array of sectors and fields will be at the General Career Fair.  The International Career Fair on Wednesday will feature job opportunities abroad, and on Thursday, you can come visit the Postdoc Career Fair.

A Few Tips for Those Attending the Career Fairs

First and foremost, bring some fresh resumes.  While business cards can be an effective way to share your contact information, a physical resume or C.V. is going to share a great deal more.  The recruiters will expect that you have these available, and if you don’t have one at the ready, it will signal to the recruiters that you are just exploring, not actively seeking.  Even if you are just exploring, the recruiters are more likely to give you better information if they believe they are speaking with a future hire so bring some just in case.

Dress the way you would for an interview.  Even though you are only attending a career fair, remember that it’s a long week.  These recruiters came to find candidates for the positions that their organization needs to fill.  Many job application processes involve an initial screening interview to shorten a list of candidates.  You should treat the career fair like a series of screening interviews, and dress accordingly.  If you treat the career fair like an informal interview, you might just find yourself in a formal one later in the week.

In addition to the other job fairs, there will be more organizations with on-site recruiters conducting interviews.  Check the listings on the Fall Meeting Online Job Board to apply for the open positions.

Get Prepared Ahead of Time

Even if you’re not looking for the next step in your career path yet, the Career Center is a great place to get yourself ready.

The Career Resource Theater will have presentations throughout the week.  The presentations include general career advice; recruiters explaining their organizations, their missions, and their open positions; early-to-mid-career scientists sharing their experiences; and more.  You can find out about all of the Career Resource Theater events by checking out the schedule.

In addition to the Career Resource Theater, attendees looking to polish themselves up for their job search can sign up for one-on-one career advice sessions, resume reviews, and mock interviews.  Visit the Fall Meeting Career Center page to learn more.

We hope to see you all at Fall Meeting!

Nathaniel Janick is the Career Services Coordinator at the American Geophysical Union.