The banner at the entrance of the Office of Career Services welcomes you on the first floor of the Campus Center.
On Thursday, Nov. 4, the UMass Boston Office of Career Services and Internships is hosting its Virtual Internship Expo from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Throughout the week, several workshops will be held in order to prepare students for the expo.
As of last week, 65 employers had registered for the expo, and a few more are expected to register this week. Employers include Aflac, Commercial Real Estate Success Training, Enterprise Holdings, Boston Public Schools, Hack Diversity, Target and many more.
The expo is being held virtually on Handshake, and students are able to sign up now for 10 minute one-on-one sessions with employers, as well as 30 minute group sessions with employers. After doing so, students will be able to see their schedules for the actual event on Nov. 4.
Matthew Power-Koch, Manager of University Internships, is coordinating and executing the expo.
“Internships are an integral part to students’ success,” said PK when asked why students should attend the expo. “It’s part of the reason that they’re paying the big bucks to be here, at any institution. It’s the practical application of what they’re learning in the classroom, in the real world.”
“[Internships are] critically important to students’ futures, especially if they have more than one, because they can really try out and figure out what they like, what they don’t, what fits them, what doesn’t fit them, so they have a much better idea of what type of opportunity they want to go for when they do graduate,” continued PK. “And they’re much more competitive having that experience on their resume than students who do not have an internship on their resume.”
PK organized two workshops last week—”How to Prepare for the Virtual Internship Expo” and “Maximizing Your LinkedIn”—and has three more scheduled for this week.
These three workshops will be held virtually as well, and information about how to access the workshops is listed on Handshake. The sessions will include two resume workshops and quick checks, and one more expo preparation workshop.
One of the resume workshops and quick checks will take place Monday, Nov. 1 from 2 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., and the other will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 2 from 1 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. The preparation workshop will occur on Wednesday, Nov. 3 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
“In preparing for the expo, first and foremost, go onto Handshake, look at that main page,” said PK. “It lists all of the workshops, it lists all of the resources that we have, there’s a video there to help them prepare for the virtual, online [aspect], there’s a resume guide to help them, there’s a way for them to schedule appointments with us if they want to get their resume reviewed last minute.”
PK also provided students with advice for proper strategy and etiquette when attending the expo.
He stated that it was important for students to dress professionally, have a document or pad of paper readily available to take notes with, to have their resume available and ready and to attend the expo in a quiet space with limited background noise.
Additionally, PK emphasized that students should look into the opportunities that they’re looking to acquire before they attend the expo.
“It’s important for [students] to prepare questions and do research on the companies before they engage and connect with them so they can really stand out,” said PK.
In order to register for the Virtual Internship Expo, visit https://joinhandshake.com/. Once logged in, students can find details about the expo and registration information under the “Events” tab.