Recently, the Ross Medical Education Center campus in Morgantown, West Virginia was able to host a career fair thanks to a wonderful group of professionals from their community who so graciously lent their time and expertise for the event. Representatives from Monongalia Health System, WVU Medicine, United Hospital Centers, and Preston Memorial Hospital shared their wealth of knowledge. They were also able to encourage the students to think beyond Ross and dream about the possibilities for their own future.
To prepare for the event, students were provided with a list of medical providers who planned to attend and encouraged to the research the employer’s profile, positions posted, and recent events at each location. Students updated or created a fresh new resume that was then previewed and edited by Tiffany Jones, the campus’ Career Services Representative. They then prepared lists of questions and were ready to sell themselves to future employers.
Tiffany Jones, who is rapidly approaching her first anniversary with Ross, spends a lot of time meeting with students prior to events like the career fair to discuss branding. “Your personal brand is how you appear to the world. It’s about knowing yourself and presenting yourself in a professional way,” Jones explained. “You have to know who you are and what you represent. You also have to be able to explain your brand in 90 seconds.”
During the career fair, students, externs, and graduates met one-on-one with each employer to discuss what employment opportunities would be a good fit and worked to impress the interviewers with their preparation. “You always need to be organized when attending events like this,” Jones continued. “You never know where your next opportunity will present itself.”
Before and after the event, Jones met with employers to discuss potential interviews and to collect feedback on students’ presentations as well as to use in the planning of future career fairs. “The career fair is a great opportunity to gather objective observations regarding student performance. It allows us to understand how the student may perform when interviewing on his or her own – without the benefit of Career Services staff. It also provides us with some guidelines to continue grooming students and polishing brands,” Jones stated.