Ex-student shares job fair experience

By Danielle Grossman
Special to the Daily Forty-Niner
 
Cal State Long Beach's annual job fair is scheduled to take place today and many are expected to attend.

Phani Kong, a 25-year-old programmer for business analysis at Boeing, received her bachelor's degree  in computer science from CSULB last May and attended last year's job fair. She gives a brief synopsis of her experience.

Daily Forty-Niner: How did you hear about the job fair?
Phani Kong: From Career Development fliers around campus.
DFN: What did you do to prepare for the job fair?
PK: I got together my resume.
DFN: Did you have to dress any particular way?
PK: No. I was in jeans and a T-shirt.
DFN: Were there a lot of people there?
PK: There were tons of people of all fields.
DFN: Which companies did you visit?
PK: Boeing, TRW, Xerox. I probably visited about 10 engineering companies.
DFN: Were the recruiters helpful?
PK: They're very helpful, especially Mark from Boeing. He talked to me about what kind of experience I had.
DFN: Were you able to fit the fair into your schedule, did you find it was convenient?
PK: It's very convenient. I went during my lunch hour.
DFN: What was the next step after the job fair?
PK: The recruiter called me and set me up with an on-campus interview. Then, they called me for an interview with the manager at Boeing.
DFN: How many companies did you interview with?
PK: I went to two on-campus interviews with Boeing and TRW.
DFN: Were you hired right away?
PK: I started as an intern because I had one class left to finish. Once I finished the class, they offered me a job.
DFN: When you started the job, did the job meet your expectations?
PK: Yes. The project was very interesting and the people were very nice. I learned a lot from my mentor.
DFN: Would you recommend the job fair to other students?
PK: Yes, definitely. It is the best way to get an internship or job.