At the recent SMU Internship and Career Fair, final year student Clementine Chang Sze-Ying was looking to make a personal connection with potential employers.
“Talking to recruiters face-to face at career fairs is a great way to get information compared to what you can find from job ads in the paper and online. It’s a great opportunity for me to get a better sense of what I may want to venture into,” Chang said.
Chang wasn’t alone. More than 600 Singapore Management University students seized the chance to meet potential employers on campus during recess week.
Students from Year 2 to seniors and post graduate programmes networked with prospective employers at the biannual fair, which by its conclusion saw recruiters from 70 companies review resumes, offer career advice, and initiate connections that might lead to job offers down the line.
From Microsoft, Sony and Rolls Royce to Marina Bay Sands and Pico Art International, global and locally born businesses alike attended the event with an eye toward finding future employees to fill more than 250 jobs.
The biannual internship and career fair organized by SMU’s Dato’ Kho Hui Meng Career Centre was meant for students of all majors, and featured multinational corporations, small and medium enterprises and public services from industry sectors including logistics, commodities, consumer products, technology, transportation, telecommunications, government, health care, hospitality, MICE and marketing.
“We wanted to present students with a wide range of opportunities for as many different career paths as possible. This time around we have focused our efforts on getting recruiters from the MICE industry considering that it is an important area of growth with Singapore being a choice destination for MICE and event planners worldwide. We also have recruiters here with opportunities in Operations Management, a field that is gaining strong interest from both employers and students as a result of recent global, technological, and competitive developments,” says the director of the career centre Sim Cher Young.
“This internship and career fair is a win–win for everyone involved. It's a great opportunity for students to find out what skills and expertise employers require. They can find out about jobs and internships that are available and consider the long-term career paths recruiters might have on offer,” Mr Sim added.
Sharply dressed in business attire and with resumes in hand, students navigated around information booths, making the contacts with representatives of various companies.
“I'm in my final year and I am already looking for jobs, seeing what's out there, finding out what career paths there are which I can consider,” said Spencer Lin, a senior majoring in Information Systems and Operations Management who spoke with an array of recruiters from the logistics, retail and service industries.
Lim Kar-men, a senior student majoring in Human Resources said, “I've been getting a feel for the recruiters and what the company environments may be like. It is good practice just speaking to them, to people in the industry which will help prepare final year students like myself step into the workforce with an idea of what is expected of us.”
“This is a great event that the career centre has put on.”
Going by the record student turnout, he couldn’t have said it better.
Main photo: Hundreds of SMU students turned up at the biannual career fair organized by the Dato’ Kho Hui Meng Career Centre.
Students had a chance to make connections with over 70 recruiters on campus.
A recruiter answering questions from students at the SMU Internship and Career Fair.